Who's that Boy!
by Stardust897
Summary: Momo Hinamori's life has been going great so far. She's the only freshman on the cheer squad, she's got a great boyfriend ,Kira, and her grades are good. She's content, until Hitsugaya Toshiro tranfers in,and brings back her not so great past.
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay guys, this is my first attempt at an AU. I'll keep this on for 10 days, if I get some good feedback (that means review friends!) I'll keep it going. If not...well, I think you can guess.**_

**_Stardust897_**

* * *

_BBBRRRIIINNGGG!_

"That'll be all for today class. I expect that report on the shogun of the Meji era done by Monday. Have a good weekend!"

"Ah! Classes are finally over for the week!" I said cheerfully as I stood up and stretched. As soon as the bell had rung and the teacher had left, the class had dispersed. There were a few people standing around chatting or packing up to hurry off to clubs or home. I had cheerleading in a few moments but I didn't think it would be a big deal if I was a few minutes late.

"Yeah, but my weekend just go ruined by that report. I haven't even started Momo-chan!"

"Eh? But Ukitake-sensei assigned it over a month ago, Karin-chan."

"I forgot about it until he mentioned it just now!"

I shook my head at my best friend Karin Kurosaki. She was extremely smart and a talented soccer player, but she was so forgetful when it came to school projects.

"Let me guess," she said shooting me a look, "You're already done aren't you?"

I smiled.

"I hate you." She muttered shaking her head causing her short black hair to bounce a little. She shut her dark eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Love you to Karin-chan!" I checked my watch. "Ahh! We're going to be late for our practices!"

Karin shot out of her seat. "Coach'll kill me if I'm late again!" She yelled as she raced out the door. "C'mon Momo! You've got cheerleading!"

"Oh, coming!"

* * *

"Five, six, seven, eight! Reaper's pride, let's fight fight fight! Reapers come on and show your might!" I twisted, did a back hand spring, and landed in a split while the other girls chanted.

I loved being a tumbler for the squad, and I was pretty good, but best of all, being on the squad meant that I got to watch my boyfriend Izuru Kira-kun play soccer. While we took a break I watched him as he caught yet another ball that was kicked his way, dropped that one and batted another one out of the goal, and kicked another one back at the person that kicked one at him. He was the team's goalie, the best they'd ever seen.

"Go Kira-kun! Give it your best!" I shouted. He caught my eye and waved just as another ball was kicked at him. He caught it. I smiled and waved back at him.

"Wow, Kira's doing pretty well," Another voice commented behind me. I turned around and saw my good friend Matsumoto Rangiku standing behind me. She was two years older than me, in 11th grade. She was really pretty with sunset orange hair, silver blue eyes and well…plenty of assets (If you catch my drift). She was also the captain of the cheerleading squad. I nodded.

"Yeah. He is."

"You know, he's been much more cheerful ever since you started going out with him. Speaking of which, how is he?"

"He's feeling fine," I answered a bit confused. She should be able to tell.

Rangiku-san shook her head. "I mean, how is he?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"What do—Rangiku-san!" I finally caught on, blushing.

She laughed. "I'm just kidding. Kira's too much of a gentleman for that." We went back to watching the soccer players for a little while. Most of my guy friends were on the soccer team.

Rangiku turned around and clapped her hands together. "Alright ladies! Let's get back to work. I have a new routine I want us to use, and it needs to be memorized by Friday!"

We groaned and got back into formation.

We caught up with Karin and her extremely cute (Rangiku's words not mine!) brother Ichigo-kun as we were leaving practice. Ichigo sighed as he ran a hand through his spiky orange hair.

"What's this I hear about a meeting being held at Urahara's?" Urahara's was the best restaurant in town for teens. It was practically a club; we hung out there so often. Urahara-san was super nice and his (girl?)friend and partner Yoruichi was not only amazingly beautiful but smart too, though she could be a bit of a tease. She had helped me with tumbling, since she used to be a gymnast.

But back to the bit about the meeting. "What about a meeting?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I told everybody to meet up at Urahara's because there's somebody I want you to meet. I already told Kira. Speak of the devil."

"Hey you guys, wait up!" I turned to see Kira-kun heading our way, his blond hair flopping in one blue eye. I shot him a big smile.

"Good work out there!" I chirped. He gave me a peck on the lips. I giggled and Karin rolled her eyes.

"Thanks. Let's go."

The walk there was just a bunch of chatting between Kira, Karin-chan, Ichigo-kun and I. Rangiku stayed out of it because she was too busy bickering on the phone with someone.

When we arrived, Urahara looked up from the glass he was drying and smiled. "Good to see you again. Your party's in the back."

"Thanks again for letting us use the VIP room Urahara-san!" Rangiku trilled.

Karin looked around. "Hey where's Ururu and Jinta?" Those two worked at the restaurant as waiters. We personally think that there's something going on between the two, but we're not so sure. Ururu is a really meek quiet girl and Jinta is a bit of a loud mouth. Jinta seems to take pleasure in teasing Ururu to death, but once she gets threatened, he's scary. He beat up two guys that were twice his size for harassing Ururu.

They were both old friends of Karin. Ururu and Yuzu (Karin's much quieter twin) are both in the Home Ec. Club. Jinta plays baseball.

Another voice answered. "We gave them the day off today, so they joined the party." It was Yoruichi. She walked out wearing a spaghetti strap dress with and apron over it. Her dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, but it still reached the back of her knees. "Yo Ichigo! It's been awhile." Apparently they had been friends for some time, for reasons on known to us.

"Good to see you too, Yoruichi-san."

We headed to the back of the store where everyone was gathered. As we walked in we heard the chattering and yelling, typical of our crowd of friends. Ichigo walked straight over to the table and sat down in-between Orihime, a cheerful, kind, redheaded girl (She and Rangiku were very good friends. They even sorta looked alike), and Rukia-chan, a small, slim, smart and pretty dark haired girl. She was related to the Japanese teacher Kuchiki-sensei.

On the other side of Rukia sat Renji, her childhood best friend. He had long red hair tied up in a ponytail and tattoos on his face and arms. On the other side of Orihime sat Ishida. He was a quiet one. Extremely intelligent (best score on the midterms for his grade every time) and he could cook or sew anything.

The seating pretty much represented the issue at hand.

It's quite complicated. Renji has had a crush on Rukia for forever. From the looks of it, Ichigo has a thing for her too, but she's just not showing any interest in either of them yet. Orihime really likes Ichigo, but he just doesn't notice it, and Ishida obviously like Orihime, but she's totally blind to that too. Ichigo, Renji and Ishida were all good friends, as were Orihime and Rukia.

There's no way that this could end with everyone being happy.

Anyway, Karin went over to Jinta and Ururu and started chatting, so I sat down by Rangiku with Kira-kun in tow.

Rangiku started chatting with Ikkaku-san immediately, but I could tell she was distracted, because she kept looking at her phone.

"So how's cheerleading going so far Momo-chan?" I glanced back at Kira.

"It's going fine. But the newest routine Rangiku-san came up with is really hard. It took most of practice just to get the first part of it down."

"Ouch. She really works you guys hard."

"Not really. She gives us plenty of breaks, she's a good captain. So how's being the best goalie for the shinigami ever working for you?"

He laughed quietly. "Pretty good. We just have one problem though." I raised an eyebrow. "We need another forward attacker. Ichigo's good, but he can't handle it by himself."

"Hmm…but haven't tryouts already ended?" I asked.

"Yeah, but if someone's good enough for the position, coach'll gladly put them on."

"Ah. Well coach should—" I was caught off by Rangiku.

"He's here! You guys just wait here for a moment, I'll be right back." She stood up and bounced out the door. Everyone went quiet and started looking at each other with confused looks across there faces. Apparently we were the only one's that knew we were meeting someone today.

I looked up when Rangiku reentered practically dragging the new kid by his collar. He was trying to fight her off, but it wasn't working out so well for him. He had snow white hair, was wearing a white button up shirt, and a pair of dark blue jeans.

I caught a glimpse of his face. All I could see was his nose and mouth, because the rest of his face was covered by the most ridiculously sized pair of glasses I'd ever seen. They covered more that half his face and the glass was so thick you couldn't actually see anything on the other side. They were so big and reflective, I could have done my hair using them.

When he was finally able to stand up straight I saw that he couldn't have been more that two or three inches taller than me and I was pretty short (Only 5' 3''). Of course, his spiky white hair made him seem taller.

He turned to—I think—glare at Rangiku. And he muttered in a much deeper and huskier voice than I expected, "Matsumoto!"

He stood up a little straighter and pushed his glasses up his nose. Not that it did much good since they just slid right back down again.

Everyone silently stared at him.

Kira-kun murmured in my ear, "Is he really our age, he's awfully short for a guy."

I whispered back, "Yeah, and why is he wearing such huge glasses, does he have something to hide underneath all that glass?"

It turns out that the entire crowd had broken out in soft murmuring.

"Alright, if you guys have finished your gossiping—"

"You have no room to talk Rangiku-chan you're the biggest gossip of all," Ikkaku said.

"Shut it, Ikkaku. Any way, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin, Hitsugaya Toshiro. He's in 9th grade, same as the squirts." I frowned at that. Squirts?

He shoved his glasses back up his nose again and said more clearly in his strangely husky voice, "Nice to meet you." His glasses slid back down his nose, and right before he got the chance to slide them up his nose again, Rangiku intervened.

"Oh, no you don't. I don't even know why you where those things all the time. You only need them to read things close up! And with a face like yours I don't know why you hide it!"

Face like his?

Despite his protests, she ripped the glasses right off his face, and tucked them into the pocket of her school uniform's skirt.

I take back everything I just said about him.

Word's couldn't describe him. He was beyond hot. Way beyond. He had the most beautiful blue-green eyes, and his white hair accented it perfectly. With the glasses off, you could see his high cheekbones, the lightly tanned skin…he was perfect. And now that I took a better look at him, the button up shirt clung to him a little, showing off some lean muscle, like a distance runner. So he wasn't as scrawny as I first thought.

And, naturally, my eye was the first one he caught.

As soon as we made eye contact, I looked away, turning back to the table. Across from me, I saw Karin and Ururu, and they were both blushing bright red. Jinta was glaring coldly in his direction. I had a feeling my face mirrored Karin's and Ururu's and though Kira-kun wouldn't make a face, he was probably thinking the same thing as Jinta.

_Stay away from my girl._

"See!" Rangiku chirped. "Don't cover up those pretty eyes of yours! This is pretty much everyone worth meeting in this town. Over here we have Orihime, Ichigo…" She started with introductions going around the table. Everyone said hi or nodded in his direction (Jinta and Ikkaku)

Then when she got to me, I turned around and he met my eyes again. I tried really hard to fight down a blush.

"…And this is Hinamori Momo."

"Uh…um…Hi," I muttered. He held my gaze for a few moments before finally dropping it. I felt my face turning red. He had the most mesmerizing look.

_But you have a_ boyfriend _dearie._

I needed to get out of here. I shot Karin a helpless look. She caught my look and stood up.

"Momo-chan, a word." And proceeded to grab my arm and drag me out of the room.

When we got to the hallway I looked at her. "He's really cute," I hissed softly.

"Yeah, I know. But Momo, you have to remember you have a boyfriend that likes you a lot! And you like him a lot too!"

"I know but…" I groaned.

She put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her. "Help!" I squeaked

* * *

**_Go on! Press that shiny green and white button!_**


	2. Chapter 2

I reentered the room, with a smile on my face, hoping to look perfectly in control. Then I saw that Hitsugaya-san was sitting beside Rangiku and that meant I would have to sit in-between him and Kira-kun.

Darn it.

I shot Kira a smile and sat down beside him. He gave me a weary look.

"What was that all about?" He inquired.

"Nothing, just girl talk. You know." He looked deeply into my eyes for a few seconds, then looked away. I had forgotten how unnerving his gaze could be when he was agitated.

I bumped shoulders with Hitsugaya-san. I turned around to apologize to him and he had turned to look at me.

"Ah. Sorry Hitsugaya-san."

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. You're Hinamori right? Matsumoto went on and on about you on the phone." Of course Rangiku choose that time to tune into our conversation.

"Of course! She's one of my best friends, and she's a cheerleader too! You guys are in the same grade you know. She's cute don't you think Taicho?"

"Rangiku-san!"

"Awww, he's allowed an opinion," She said to me then turned back to Hitsugaya-san, "But you better stay away from this one. She's got a boyfriend, see the blond one sitting on the other side of her, Kira Izuru."

Hitsugaya-san and Kira-kun stared each other down for a few moments. I flinched. You could practically smell the tension in the air.

"Oi, Taicho. Don't go picking fights on your first day here," Rangiku hissed in his ear.

"I wasn't trying to." He hissed back.

"Uh, why does she call you 'taicho' Hitsugaya-san?" I asked. Hoping to relieve a bit of the tension.

"I guess it's because I was the captain of my school soccer team," He answered.

That got all the guys attention real fast.

"CAPTAIN?!" Ichigo-kun, Renji and Kira-kun all gasped at once.

"That scrawny kid?!" Ikkaku tactlessly said. Hitsugaya-san scowled and shot him an irritated look.

"Just because someone's short doesn't mean he's not a good player." Hisagi-kun said. "Remember I was pretty small in middle school."

Yeah, and then he hit 10th grade and now he's, well…Ask his fan club. He's the current captain of the soccer team and a senior. He and Rangiku-san had a thing going for a little while…but we don't exactly know what happened.

Hitsugaya nodded in Hisagi-kun's direction. Obviously appreciating what he had said.

"So," Hisagi asked. "What position did you play?"

"Forward attacker."

"Same as me," Ichigo said. "We only have one right now, and we are in dire need of another one. Are you transferring in?"

"I transfer in next Monday, why?"

"Come to practice with us then. We'll introduce you to the coach and get you a special try-out. You willing to give it a shot?" Hisagi asked.

"Sure, why not?" That was the last thing he said for the rest of the party. I noticed that he didn't smile much either, in fact he didn't really seem interested in being here at all.

What a cold personality. But why was it that I felt subtly attracted to it?

* * *

Monday rolled around far too quickly for my liking. The alarm rung at 7:00 am as usual and I quickly got dressed, pulling on my black, red, and white plaid skirt, my white dress blouse with it's crimson bow, and tying my hair up into a bun with a white cloth covering it. I checked my reflection in the mirror, satisfied I grabbed my bag and headed out my bedroom door.

Like a lot of my friends, I lived alone. My parents lived in another part of Japan, but they thought this school would be good for me to go to, so they rented an apartment for me. They paid for it and sent me money every 2 weeks, but I had gone ahead and gotten a job here. Too bad hours were few and far between for me.

It got lonely sometimes, sitting in the apartment all by myself, I thought as I toasted some bread. I wrapped the bread in a piece of paper towel and walked out the door, making sure to lock the door as I walked out. I usually got to school early to study, eating breakfast on the way.

I heard the click of another door closing nearby. I turned to see Hitsugaya-san shutting his own door just down the hallway.

Our eyes met, and I felt mine widen. I had no idea that he was staying in the same apartment as me!

The karma gods are out to destroy me.

"Uh…Hi," I said quietly. He grunted in response. Sheesh. He was much friendlier before.

"I guess we'll be walking to school together then," He nodded. "The school's not far from here, but we should get going."

He nodded again, and headed towards the stairs, pausing to wait for me. I caught up to him and we began our trek to school.

"So," I said, trying to get a conversation going. "Do you know which class you're in?"

"First year class 5." Shoot! That was the same as me!

I laughed nervously. "That's the same as me. I always thought this school was weird though. They go by the western system instead of the Japanese system. We actually have 4 years of high school instead of 3." I was babbling at this point. He didn't even bother responding.

"Can I see your schedule?" He fished it out of his pocket and showed it to me.

We had Japanese, chemistry, English, and World History together. The only thing missing was math. I wasn't in the AP math class like he was. Is this guy a genius or something?

"Oh, we have the same classes, expect for math. I'm not too great in math, so I didn't get into the AP class."

"Hmph." Was his answer. Okay. That's about it.

"What's the deal with you? I'm just trying to be nice! Your new here!" He turned and looked me dead in the eye. I got lost in those green-blue eyes of his, again.

"I'm not quite sure if your boyfriend would like it if I spent too much time around you," And with that he quickened his pace and walked off, leaving me still holding his schedule. Oh, what an—

"Morning Momo-chan! Thanks for waiting for me." Karin said sarcastically. I hadn't even noticed that we'd passed the Kurosaki clinic. Ichigo and Yuzu were following not too far behind. They caught up pretty quickly. Ichigo raised a hand in greeting.

"Good morning Momo-chan," Yuzu said cheerfully. "I missed Rangiku-nee-san's meeting Friday. What happened?"

"Oh, we met her cousin, Toshiro," Karin answered. "He's a bit of an ice cube. Speaking of which, wasn't that him walking away from you?"

"Yeah." I answered. "Turns out we live in the same apartment." Karin gasped at that.

"Are you serious?! This could cause some major problems!"

"Problems?" Ichigo-kun asked, confused.

"Forget it Ichi-nii." Karin said dismissively.

"No way!" Yuzu said. "Don't tell me you have a cru—" Karin slapped a hand over her sister's mouth and waved a hand in Ichigo-kun direction, who narrowed his eyes in response. Good thing Ichigo could be kind of clueless.

"But what about Kira-kun?!" She squeaked when Karin uncovered her mouth.

"What about him?" Ichigo-kun questioned.

"Don't worry about it Ichigo-kun." I answered. "It's nothing important."

"You should stay away from him Momo," Karin warned.

"Therein lies the problem Karin-chan. He's in our class." Karin and Yuzu's face went white.

"You're kidding," They said in unison.

"No I'm not," I answered waving his schedule around. "Here's his schedule." Yuzu raised her eyebrows. Karin's jaw dropped.

"What did you do? Try to pickpocket him and wound up with his schedule?" Karin asked incredulously.

"No!" I answered testily. "I asked him what classes he was in and he gave it to me!"

"Would someone please tell me what the heck is going on here?" Ichigo snapped.

We all gave him a dismissive wave. "Don't worry about it, Ichi-nii," Yuzu said. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I'll see you squirts later. There's Rukia and Renji." I hadn't even noticed we'd made it to the school already.

Karin sighed softly. "I'm worried about those three," she muttered softly. Yuzu nodded.

"You mean those five." I answered as I watched Orihime and Ishida walk up.

"A lot of hearts could get broken by just one decision." Yuzu said quietly. Karin and I nodded.

"Too bad we all have are own problems." Karin muttered.

I shook my head. "Let's not dwell on it. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let's just get to class."

* * *

I sat down in by desk near the back of the room. Despite that fact, my grades were near perfect in every subject (except math of course). Life was good. Our homeroom teacher, Kuchiki Byakuya-sensei, walked in. I heard several girls in the class sigh.

Kuchiki-sensei was Rukia's much older brother. As handsome as she was pretty, he was ranked as hottest teacher in the school, followed by Ukitake-sensei.

I already felt sorry for him. I could imagine that his desk was probably buried under chocolate every Valentine's day.

He was an all business teacher though, as soon as he walked into the class he started calling roll.

"…Hinamori."

"Here!"

"Hiroshima."

"Here." This went on until he had finished with the roll. Then he looked up and said in his low tenor, "We have a new student starting here today," Oh god. I half-hoped he would transfer to another class. "His name is Hitsugaya Toshiro-san. I hope you will treat him with respect. Come in, Hitsugaya-san."

The door slid open and in walked Hitsugaya…with his glasses on. He walked stiffly to the front of the room. "Hitsugaya Toshiro, it's a pleasure to meet you," He muttered almost under his breath.

Kuchiki-sensei scanned around the room, his eyes fell near me…actually in the desk right beside me. The empty desk right beside me!

He pointed. "Sit by Hinamori in the desk right over there. I trust that you'll explain everything that's going on in class Hinamori-san."

"Hai, sensei."

"Good. As for the announcement from the faculty…" Hitsugaya strode to the seat beside me and plopped into it.

I glanced at him, but I couldn't tell if he was looking at me through those huge glasses of his.

"Um…"I started.

"What?"

"Why are you wearing those absurdly large glasses? You really don't need to wear them in homeroom."

He shook his head. "I'm enjoying my limited obscurity."

"What do you—"

"You'll find out at lunch." He said with a sigh.

* * *

Turns out that I did find out what he meant at lunch. As soon as Karin, Hitsugaya-san and I got to the table, Rangiku-san stood up and ripped his glasses off his face. This time he only protested up until the glasses where inside her skirt pocket.

The thing about Rangiku-san is she's really noticeable. People pretty much watch anything and everything she does. So when she stood up and walked purposefully up to Hitsugaya-san, we had the most of the cafeteria's attention.

When the glasses were off, we had the _whole_ cafeteria's attention. Every single girl in the cafeteria was staring at Hitsugaya-san.

"EEEHHH?! Is that really Hitsugaya-san?!" A girl from my class exclaimed.

"No way! He looks so different without his glasses!"

"He's the new kid?! Dang! He's hot!" Pretty soon the commotion had reached a crescendo, and girls were making there way towards our table. I shook my head. I went over to where Kira-kun was sitting, and sat down. _Good luck to him_.

He started backing towards the door, the girls kept advancing.

Ichigo looked at him pityingly. "He's so screwed." Was all he said. The other guys at the table nodded.

"Some of the girls here are like bloodhounds, I swear," Hisagi muttered. "No matter where he hides, they'll sniff him out."

"You would know Hisagi, you and you're fan club." Ikkaku muttered.

"Jealous, Ikkaku-san?" Renji asked smirking.

"Hell no, I'm not!" Ikkaku retorted. "Some of those girls are really crazy! I've seen them corner Hisagi and Ichigo." He shuddered.

Oh yeah, I'd totally forgot about Ichigo's fan club. They weren't as outgoing as Hisagi's.

Karin chuckled, obviously remembering one of those times.

"I'll give it a week, and he'll have a fan club going." We said in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

**_I'm so glad you guys like this story! Chapter three already! Well here you guys go chapter three of Who's that Boy?!_**

* * *

About that fan club thing? Yeah it didn't help that not only is he cute (I never said that got it?!) and smart, (Since I'm one of the few people he know in the class, Kurotsuchi–sensei made him my lab partner.) But he can play soccer like a pro.

Rangiku-san didn't even make an attempt to get the cheerleaders back in formation. We were all too busy gaping at Hitsugaya-san as he dribbled circles around the veteran players. I watched as Renji, the defensive player, tried to get the ball out of his possession, Hitsugaya-san just did a quick movement with his legs, causing the ball to roll behind him. Renji tried to get behind him to get to the ball but he ended up slipping in the grass, landing ungracefully on his butt, and watching as Hitsugaya made his way unscathed towards the goal.

That was the last person that he needed to get through to get to go for the goal. Kira-kun was all by himself. All the girls cheered for Hitsugaya-san. I almost wanted to do the same, but then again, I was Kira-kun's girlfriend.

"Don't let him get a goal, Kira-kun!" I shouted. Kira was focused completely on Hitsugaya-san.

"There's no way that Kira's going to be able to catch whatever Taicho sends at him. There's a reason he was the captain of the team back in Seireitei," Rangiku-san said almost triumphantly.

"Don't say that! Kira-kun will catch it," I said.

Rangiku just pointed.

Hitsugaya faked to the left, just tapping the ball in that direction. _Don't go for the bait, Kira-kun!_

He went for the bait. He had just moved in that direction, when Hitsugaya-san switched direction and launched the ball to the right. Kira recovered and lunged for the ball, but it still went in.

The rest of the soccer team stood there with their jaws in the grass. Hitsugaya-san looked our way. The squad let out an earsplitting squeal. His eyes met mine, and his lips quirked up in what seemed to be a smile, but what must have been a smirk. The squad was trying to find out who he was looking at, and when they did, the response was mixed.

I heard gasps, more squeals, and one whispered "Uh-oh, this could cause trouble." It didn't even occur to me until later that that was Rangiku-san.

Oh, yeah. It could definitely cause trouble.

I half expected Rangiku-san to join the ranks of squealing girls, but when I turned to her, she was looking at me with a funny expression. A cross between suspicion and surprise. Then she looked back at Toshiro, nodded in the goal direction, and then shook her head.

Kira-kun! He was picking himself off of the ground, and glaring at Hitsugaya's back. He looked up and caught my eye, I gave him what I thought to be a reassuring smile, but he just looked away.

The girls' soccer team was watching from the other practice field. Karin had her arms crossed and eyebrows raised, obviously impressed. The other girls had the same faces that the boys had. The girls coach was just standing there in awe.

Speaking of coaches, it looked like the boy's coach had gone into shock. I guess when you see your entire soccer team gets torn apart by one lone kid; you would have the same face on. The clipboard hung limply in one hand. He finally got out of his funk and practically screamed "You're on the team!" No second guesses, no questions asked.

Hisagi was over helping Renji up and shaking his head. Renji hadn't even bothered to pick himself up, he was to busy gaping at Hitsugaya's display of talent.

* * *

I caught up with Kira-kun after practice. He still looked a bit down about what had just happened.

"H-hey Kira-kun." He looked at me and sighed. I touched his arm. "Hey, don't look so down. Not even a train could have stopped him." Wrong thing to say. He shot me a look.

"Um…thanks?"

"That came out wrong," When it thought about it, there was nothing I could say that wouldn't either be a lie, or make Hitsugaya-san sound amazing.

"Momo-chan!" I turned to see the Kurosakis, Jinta and Ururu (Not surprised. Together as always.), Rangiku-san and…Hitsugaya-san.

"Hey, hey! Do you guys what to go and get some food at Urahara's?" Rangiku-san said excitedly.

"Sorry," I said. "I've got a lot of homework."

"Same here," Karin muttered. Yuzu and Ichigo nodded.

"Me too," Hitsugaya-san said.

"We've got to work there, so no." Jinta said.

"Awww! You guys are no fun! Looks like it's just you and me Kira, lets go!" He was too surprised to even protest.

"Okay, I guess."

I shook my head. The rest of us turned and started heading home. Halfway there, I waved good-bye to Karin and the others as they headed off to their home.

Now I noticed that it was just Hitsugaya and I.

"Um…congrats on making the team."

"Hn. Thanks."

"But don't you think that was a bit much? You sort of killed them."

He glanced at me and then shrugged. "Sorry, didn't mean to wound your boyfriend's pride."

I narrowed my eyes. He had to be the most aggravating person I'd ever met. "Yeah, nicely done."

I stuck my nose in the air and picked up my pace, walking ahead of him, just like he'd done to me that morning.

Unfortunately, he caught up with me. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like such a jerk," I glanced at him. He actually looked sorry. I almost caved. Almost.

"Hmph." Was all is said then stalked off.

* * *

I really regret stalking off now.

I was sitting in my living room, attempting to do math homework. Keyword being; attempting. I was so beyond lost.

I needed help and I'd already called Karin (She didn't get it either but she had those wonderful creatures called siblings to help her!) then Rangiku-san, who said that she was the wrong person to ask (she doesn't even know what the Pythagorean theorem is) and Kira-kun didn't even pick up the phone when I called him (he was probably ticked off at me.) I even tried Rukia-chan, but that didn't work out either considering that she just happened to have her phone on her, but she was still at track practice.

I only had one more option left and I was really afraid to use it. Or rather, Him.

Especially after my little outburst about Kira-kun, there was no way he was going to want to help me out. Maybe if I begged…

_What about your pride?_

To heck with my pride! I'm just trying not to bomb my next math test!

I picked up my books and papers and walked out my front door, remembering to lock it.

As I stood in front of Hitsugaya-san's door, I swallowed what was left of my pride. If I had to, I would use the bambi eyes. I knocked on the door. There was a bit of a scuffle and a "Coming."

The door opened and there he stood in a black collard shirt and jeans. What's with him and those collard shirts that clinged to him?!

_Focus._

"Hitsugaya-san, I'm having a little trouble with my math homework, would you mind helping me out?" I went for the super innocent look.

He looked at me carefully and slowly blinked his eyes. Then he smiled ever so slightly and leaned against the doorway.

"Hmm. Do you really want someone who got a goal on your—"

"Drop it."

He put his hands up. "Okay," He glanced back for a second. The looked back at me more seriously. "You sure you're okay with this? I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I know you wouldn't do anything, and I've got a boyfriend I really like."

He stepped aside to let me in. I drifted into the room. It was neatly decorated. A black couch with a glass table sat in the living room. A medium sized TV sat in the corner. There were two side tables on either side of the couch. One had a lamp the other had a stack of books on it.

The glass table was covered with papers and textbooks. Guess he had the same idea I did. He shut the door behind him and motioned towards the couch.

"Go ahead and sit down. What would you like to drink?" He asked as he wandered into the kitchen.

"Um…water would be fine," I answered as I set down my books and papers on the one clear corner of the table. I noticed that most of the papers were notes. Really detailed notes, yet he looked like he barely paid attention in class.

He reappeared and set down the glass of water and coaster.

"Here."

"Thanks." There was an awkward silence.

"Okay, what exactly don't you understand?"

"Um…" I opened my book to the page that we had to do. "This whole, you have to multiply x by the 5th power then divide…" I prattled on about what I didn't understand.

He nodded. "Okay, first of all you need to divide here first and then multiply…" An hour later he had explained it to me in terms I understood.

"And when you multiply x by the 4th power," He looked at me raising his eyebrows. Oops. Wrong power. "You divide it by y and you get your answer."

"So the answer would be 8932?" He nodded. "Yes! I finally got it! Thank you so much Hitsugaya-san." He waved his hand.

"It wasn't that big a deal. And stop with the 'san'. It makes me feel old." I smiled. It was easy to be around him, I didn't need to put up an act. I could just be myself.

"Okay, Hitsugaya-kun." I thought for a bit. "Hey you know, you could be Shiro-chan!" He gave me a 'you've got to be kidding' look.

"What?"

"With your white hair, and your first name being To_shiro_," I clapped my hands together. "Yeah, you'll be Shiro-chan now!"

"Hmph. Don't give people nicknames like that."

"Awww, but it's cute," He blushed.

"Guys don't exactly like being called cute."

"I'll call a guy cute if I think he's cute, and you're cute!" There was an awkward silence. His face turned tomato red, and at first I didn't understand why, but it hit me not to long afterwards.

I'd just called him cute.

I felt my face heat up, and I ducked me head to let my bangs hide my face and stood up.

"I think I'd better be going," I picked up my stuff and headed towards the door. As I reached to turn the doorknob, I looked back and saw that Hitsugaya-kun was watching me. He still had a faint pink blush.

"Thanks for the help, Hitsugaya-sa—Hitsugaya-kun." He shook his head.

"No problem."

I quickly opened the door and left.

Shoot. Now I knew that I had a crush on him.

* * *

I walked out of my apartment the next morning at the same time Hitsugaya-kun did. He looked up at me.

" 'Morning Hinamori."

"Good morning, Shiro-chan," I said smiling at him. His eyebrow twitched.

"Don't call me that," I walked past him to the stairwell.

"C'mon. We'll be late if we don't hurry up. Plus I have to meet the Kurosaki's on the way."

"You guys are really good friends huh?" I nodded.

"Yeah. Karin and I have been friends since before I move here to Karakura town. Our parent were friends."

"You moved here?"

"Yeah. I lived in Seireitei before. You're from there too, right?"

"Yeah. I went to Gotei Acadamy. What about you?"

"Well you know that Gotei is the boy's school. I went Kidou. That's where I met Rangiku-san. She was the person assigned to me to show me around the school."

"So did you guys meet up again here?"

"No," I answered quietly. "We moved to this school together."

He raised his eyebrows but didn't press the subject. He must have known the reason Rangiku-san moved here. But he didn't know mine, and I wasn't sharing.

It was too painful.

"Hey there's Kurosaki, Karin and…"

"Yuzu. The other girl's name is Yuzu. She wasn't at the 'meeting' Rangiku-san held."

He rolled his eyes at the mention of Rangiku's meeting. And I smiled in response.

We caught up with them. "Karin-chan! Yuzu-chan! Good morning!"

"Oh, I don't get a good morning?" Ichigo-kun asked. I giggled.

"Good morning, Ichigo-kun. Yuzu-chan, you haven't gotten to meet Shiro-chan," I said without even thinking about it. Karin's jaw dropped. "Shiro-chan—"

He brushed me aside with a glare. "Hitsugaya Toshiro. It's a pleasure."

Yuzu blushed. "Kurosaki Yuzu. It's nice to meet you too."

He shot me a look. "If you're going to introduce me to any more of you friends, don't introduce me as 'Shiro-chan'. Ugh."

I laughed.

Karin pulled me and Yuzu aside shooting the boys a dazzling smile. "Girl talk. You guys go ahead." Hitsugaya-kun looked a bit confused.

Ichigo-kun shook his head. "Don't even bother Toshiro. Once they start that girl talk, you won't understand a word they say." He steered him in the other direction. He looked at me, and I shrugged. Ichigo-kun started talking about soccer which caught his attention.

When they were out of earshot, Yuzu and Karin both looked at me and said "Shiro-chan?!"

"When did this happen?" Karin demanded.

"Um…last night when I didn't understand my math homework, I went over to his place and he helped me out. We just started talking."

Karin shook her head. "You're getting in too deep, Momo."

* * *

**_If you're wondering why I brought in the Shiro-chan thing already, I wanted it to already be out there beacause that could be cause for an awkward situation if she ever...Oh never mind. I'm spoiling the story._**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Hey everybody! Chapter 4 already! (Have you noticed that I've literally been updating every 5 days?) Okay, I'm going to keep this short. After you've read this chapter please go to my profile and vote on my poll. Me and my indecisive self can't choose which side pairings I want so I want you guys to help me out! One of the pairings will have a major effect on the story (I won't tell you which one) but please vote!_**

**_Stardust897 over._**_

* * *

_

_You're getting in too deep, Momo._

What was that supposed to mean? In too deep? I barely know the guy.

Okay, he's sort of nice, and cute, and funny in his own sarcastic way. I've acknowledged the fact that I have a minuscule crush on him, but that doesn't mean that I'm falling over myself for him. (He has his fan girls for that.) I mean I've got a boyfriend.

Lunch that day turned out to be interesting. There was a dance coming up that signified the beginning of the soccer season. All the players and cheerleaders were introduced there. I would be going with Kira-kun of course, but the interesting thing going on in group involved Renji, Rukia, and Ichigo.

It started out innocently enough with just a simple question (or would it be command?) from Ichigo.

"Hey midget," It had been established that Rukia was the midget. At first she took offense to it, but now she didn't even bother to care.

"What?" Rukia answered poking at her supposed-to-be-sushi.

"You and I are going to the soccer opening ceremony together." The entire table froze. I nudged Karin. She looked at me and shrugged, shaking her head and holding her hands up in a _I had no idea he was planning this_ fashion. Finally! One of them finally got the guts to ask the other out! Then I looked at Renji. He was gripping his soda can so tightly I thought it might burst. Uh-oh.

"No," He said. "Rukia's going with me." Rukia paled considerably. Rangiku took a sip of her green tea and muttered above the rim of the bottle "And so it begins."

"I just asked her. She's going with me. Right Rukia?"

"I—"

"I just said she's going with me!" Renji retorted. This could get really ugly, really fast.

Rukia attempted to speak again. She sounded a bit pissed that they had cut her off. "I don't—"

"She's going with me!" Ichigo snapped. I noticed that Hitsugaya-kun was sitting in between the two warring friends, and he was getting tired of them shouting over his head.

Karin tried to intervene. "Ichi-nii—"

"Me!"

"No me!" Hitsugaya-kun made a face.

"I said me!"

"Renji—" Rukia once again tried to speak. Now she was definitely ticked. That's Rukia-chan for you. She doesn't take crap from anyone.

"I said—"

"Would you two shut up?! I'm trying to eat here and you guys shouting over my head isn't exactly making this crap taste better!" Hitsugaya-kun finally cut in. "And for that matter, why don't you two stop yelling at each other long enough to find out who Kuchiki wants to go with?!"

The two of them stopped, looked at each other, and then looked at Rukia expectantly. She shifted uncomfortably.

"I-I guess I'll go with Ichigo. He did ask first," She muttered. Renji turned away from her.

"Fine." He said quietly. I noticed that Ichigo suddenly looked very guilty.

A chair slid back from the table abruptly. It was Orihime. She looked really sad.

"I have a lot of homework today, so I guess I'll get going to start working on it," She picked up her lunch bag and started to walk away.

Ichigo looked confused. "Hah? But we don't have that much—" He was cut off as Yuzu stuffed a carrot in his mouth. She shook her head. I sighed as I stood up, about to leave the cafeteria. He didn't even know she was hurt. I caught Hitsugaya-kun's eye and he looked very confused. He was obviously trying to figure out what was going on.

_Men._ It was obvious wasn't it?

"I have a math test to study for, so we'll see you guys later."

"We'll?" Hisagi asked.

"Yup, Hitsugaya-kun volunteered to help me study. Right?"

"Huh?" I gave him a meaningful look. "Oh, um yeah."

He stood up and the two of us walked over and dumped our trays.

"What was that all about?" He asked glancing back at the oddly silent table. I glanced back as well and noticed that Kira-kun was watching us. I smiled at him, but he just looked sadly away. I frowned. Rangiku-san stood up and dumped her lunch.

"Nothing pretty. C'mon, I'll explain over math problems."

He shrugged and we headed for the library.

* * *

"Okay," I said as we opened our text books. He gave me a set of problems to do, while I spoke. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"What's this business with Kurosaki, Abarai, Kuchiki and Inoue-san?"

"And Ishida-kun. He's part of it to. He's just much more private than the others." He nodded.

"Okay. Well, Renji has a crush on Rukia-chan. Those two have been friends for years…" I started explaining the whole soap opera worthy drama. By the end he was pinching the bridge of his nose and groaning.

"So in other words, all love is unrequited?" He asked checking over the problems I had done and nodding his head. I smiled triumphantly.

"Basically," I answered. He shook his head.

"What a high school drama." I laughed.

"Well this is high school. What did you expect, for everything to be rainbows and sunshine?" I chuckled. "No one's that lucky." I whispered. He looked up at me sharply.

"You—"

"Momo-chan. There you are. It's been awhile since we've gotten to talk." I looked up and saw Kira-kun approaching us. He put his arm around me. And glanced coldly in Hitsugaya-kun's direction. "You mind leaving us alone for a bit?" Huh? What's this all about?

"No problem. There was a book that I needed to check out," He stood up, picked up his books and turned the corner of a bookshelf. "See you later Hinamori," He called over his shoulder.

"Kay, bye!" I turned towards Kira-kun. "Kira-kun, is something bothering you?"

He was quiet for a moment. "I just wanted to know…" He hesitated for a moment like he was deliberating what he wanted to say. Finally he said, "I just wanted to make sure that we were going to the ceremony with me," I frowned at that.

"Of course I am. If I weren't going with you who would I be going with?"

He shot me a look. "Hitsugaya."

"No way Kira-kun. We're just good friends. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Really? You guys seem oddly comfortable with each other for people who just met."

"We just have the right sorta personalities I guess. We just get along really well. Wait; are you afraid that I like him?" I was starting to sweat a little. Kira-kun wasn't stupid. He had always had a knack for picking out subtle vibes people gave off.

He was quiet. "We'd better start heading for class. The bell's going to ring soon." I finally said

"Yeah. Good luck with your test." He remarked. Kira was a year older than me so of course we had different teachers.

"Thanks." He left.

He was distant. He was vague. He was irritable.

He was jealous.

And he had every right to be. I heard a book drop somewhere behind me. I shut my eyes and said aloud, "It's a bad habit to eavesdrop on people, Rangiku-san."

She walked out from behind a bookshelf smiling guiltily. "How did you know I was there?"

"I saw you stand up when we were leaving the cafeteria. Exactly how much did you hear?"

"Everything. I want to know something Momo-chan."

"What?"

"Do you really like Kira?" I looked at her. She was looking out the window near the desk we were at. She flicked her eyes to me.

"I—"

"Because you seem to treat him like he's a distraction."

"A distraction? What are you talking about?" I asked, my grip on my books clutched to my chest tightening.

"A distraction, to keep you from thinking about _him_."

"He has nothing to do with me now. I'm over him now Rangiku-san." My voice was strained. This wasn't a good topic of conversation for me.

"Then why are you keeping Kira at an arm's length?" She shot back. I snapped.

"Oh yeah?" I snapped back venomously. "What about you and Hisagi-kun? Wasn't he a distraction from Gin?!" As soon as I said it, I wished I could take it back. Rangiku-san's face went chalk white.

"Rangiku-san—"

"Look," Her voice was now strained, like she was holding back tears. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to end up like me. I know what Aizen did was bad but not everyone you love will hurt you."

"Bad? Bad?! It wasn't just bad! It was unspeakable! He very nearly screwed me up for life!" I all but yelled. The librarian shushed me, and I muttered a sorry. Thank goodness we were the only ones in the library.

She stood up. "Even if you aren't into Kira, don't hurt Taicho. He really likes you." My eyes widened as she walked out of the library silently. I gathered up my stuff and hurried to get to class, holding back tears.

* * *

I walked into class just before the bell rang. I kept my head down and walked quickly to my seat just as the Kurotsuchi-sensei walked in.

"Alright," He said in his high annoying voice of his, "We have a lab and practical. I want you to get your lab partners and head to the chemistry lab." The class started moving, everyone was packing up there stuff to go to the lab, or chatting with there lab partners as they walked out the door and towards the lab. I picked up my stuff and didn't even bother waiting for Hitsugaya-kun.

"H-hey! Wait for us Momo-chan!" Karin and her partner Maria-chan called. Maria was also on the cheer squad with me.

I stopped and waited.

"Where's Hitsugaya-kun?" Maria-chan asked. "Isn't he you partner? You are so lucky! I wish he was my partner. He's so hot!" She sighed dreamily. I shrugged and started walking again. I really didn't want to be around anyone right then. My plan was ruined when suddenly I felt a hand close around my wrist.

"I thought we were supposed to go to the lab together." Hitsugaya-san.

"Does it matter?" I turned with a fake smile. "As long as we're at the same lab, it doesn't really matter does it?" He let go of my hand and narrowed his eyes.

"Here's the practical," he said holding out a sheet of paper. I plucked it from him and read it. It was an easy practical, one that Hitsugaya-kun and I could do in our sleep.

"This won't take more than 15 minutes to complete," I said quietly. I blinked rapidly. The tears still weren't going away.

"Yeah," he looked at me closely. "Hey are you okay? You look like you're about to cry."

I scrubbed at my eyes. "I'm fine! Heh heh! Just fine," my voice cracked. I heard a shuffling sound and then a handkerchief was thrust into my face.

"Don't start bawling on me, geez." I took it from him and wiped my eyes.

"Thank you." I said looking up. He blushed faintly.

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon. We're going to be late." He whirled me around and grabbed my shoulders pushing me along gently. He looked over his shoulder. "Karin, Takahashi-san hurry up!"

"Coming!" Maria-chan called. She pulled Karin-chan along we walked to the chemistry lab together.

* * *

_Later that day..._

Ukitake-sensei had just left and I was already dreading going to cheerleading practice. This was the first time in a long time that Rangiku-san and I had a fight.

I groaned and let my head hit my desk. Karin and Hitsugaya-kun had packed up and were getting ready to go to practice.

"Momo-chan what's the matter with you? You've been depressed all day long."

I looked up at her and whined, "Rangiku-san and I had a fight and it's all my fault! I think she's mad at me." I muttered the last part.

"Well running away isn't going to help matters," Hitsugaya-kun said as he picked up his bag. "If you feel bad, apologize to her. Matsumoto isn't someone that holds a grudge. If anything, she's probably beating herself up about it even worse that you are."

"Yeah. Rangiku-nee doesn't get mad easily anyway."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." I picked up my bag. "Let's go." We walked out to the athletic fields and I said good bye to the two of them and walked to where the cheerleading squad was. I noticed that they were all crowded around someone.

"It'll be okay Rangiku-chan! I'm sure she's not too mad."

"But I said something horrible to her!"

"Rangiku-san," I said. She looked up at me her eyes wide. "I'm sorry about earlier."

She stood up and rushed over to me to hug me. I got squished against her voluptuous chest.

"It was my fault! I shouldn't have said that!" I wrapped my arms around her.

"It was my fault!"

"See, Rangiku-chan! She wasn't mad."

She looked at me and sighed. "We still need to talk, but I'm sorry that I brought up what I brought up." I shook my head.

"You shouldn't feel sorry. You were right." She smiled and ruffled my hair.

"I usually am about these things, but at the same time you were right."

"I guess that means we tie."

"Yeah." She gave me another squeeze then let me go.

"Alright ladies. The opening ceremony is next Friday. We've got a lot of work to do. Let's get in formation!"

"Yeah!" We cheered, grabbed our pompoms and got ready.

* * *

**_The opening ceromony if you're wondering is more or less a classier form of a pep rally._**

**_Now go ahead and review_**

**_(And vote while you're at it!)_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I always get this happy feeling when I check my e-mail (almost every five minutes after posting a new chapter) and see a bunch of e-mails from Fanfiction say "Review Alert!"_**

**_So keep those reviews coming!_**

**_Stardust897 over._**

* * *

The rest of the week passed pretty uneventfully. Renji and Ichigo made up at last. Orihime returned to her cheerful self when Ishida-san asked her to go with him to the opening ceremony. Rangiku-san and I had made up. Everything had been going great.

Pretty soon almost everybody in our group had dates. Karin was going with an old friend of hers who was also on the boys' team. Yuzu was going with one of her friends from the Home Ec. Club. (He was this really shy quiet guy.) Ikkaku-san even surprised all of us by agreeing to go with Keigo-san older sister. I'd never seen her happier. Rangiku-san and Hisagi decided to go together. It seemed fitting for the soccer captain and the cheerleading captain to go to the ceremony together.

The only person who didn't have a date surprisingly enough was Hitsugaya-kun. We asked him if nobody had asked him to go with them. His answer was, "_Every time_ I turn around _another_ girl asks me. Some of them more than once. I'm just going to fly solo for this one though."

That got a good laugh out of everyone.

Now it was Saturday and we girls had to look for dresses. This and homecoming were the only times that anyone other girl, besides me, dared to go shopping with Rangiku-san. Despite her being a bit over-the-top she had amazing fashion sense, so everyone wanted her opinion. In fact most of the clothes I own Rangiku-san had helped me pick out. She said that she never had a little sister to do this sort of stuff with so she loves doing it with me.

We met up in front of the mall at noon. Everyone was there. Yuzu-chan, Karin-chan (Yuzu must have dragged her. She hates wearing girly stuff) Rukia-chan, Orihime-san, Ururu-chan, Rangiku-san, and I.

Rangiku-san looked over at me and smiled almost evilly. I frowned. What in the world was she planning?

Karin narrowed her eyes and seemed to have the same idea I did. "Rangiku-nee-san, what are you planning?"

"Oh nothing Karin-chan. I just wanted to invite two more people," She pulled out her cell phone and punched a few numbers. She waited while it rang and then, "Good morning Taicho! Are you seriously just waking up?" There was some rapid muttering. "It's not that early. It's 12 pm! Anyway, I want you to come to the mall," There was an answer. "Oh, come on! Which guy in their right mind would give up the chance to be with seven pretty girls?!" There was some more, louder, muttering. "Please? With sugar on top Taicho?" A pause. "Okay. No more nice Rangiku. If you don't come I'll tell everyone about that time when we were back in middle school that you spilled that stuff—" There was some low muttering. "Oh you don't think I will? Oh and Momo-chan is here too." Why was she bringing me into this?

She turned away from her phone and said loudly "Hey Momo-chan, you wouldn't believe what happened a few years back. Taicho—" This time the yelling over the phone was loud enough for us to hear.

"Okay! Okay! I'll be there in twenty minutes! Just don't go spouting unnecessary information Matsumoto!" I heard Hitsugaya-kun shout.

"I love you Taicho! Bye," She pressed the end button on her phone then punched in a new number. By that point I was sweating bullets and the others aside from Karin and Yuzu were looking at each other with confused faces. Rangiku-san waited as the phone rang

Oh dear lord, don't let her say it. Please don't let her say—

"Kira! Hey! I was just calling to invite us to come with us to the mall."

I groaned.

"Yeah, Momo-chan's here. You should definitely come!" A pause. "Really? Yay! See you soon!" She shut her phone. "You girls don't mind hanging out here for a few minutes do you?"

Rukia looked at me with her eyebrows raised. When she saw the look on my face, a look of realization passed across her face. She pulled Orihime down to her level and whispered in her ear. Orihime's confused look disappeared. She balled one hand into a fist and tapped it against her upturned palm.

"Oh," she said. "I get it."

Rukia looked over at Rangiku with a sly smile on her face. "Rangiku that wasn't a very nice thing to do. Hitsugaya-san and Kira already don't get along. You've just managed to put Hinamori in a very awkward position." I looked at her with my mouth slack. She'd figured it out.

"Yes," Karin said. "You have. What are you going to do now, Momo?"

I turned on my heel. "I'm going to go home and hide," and just as I was about to walk away, Rangiku-san grabbed my collar.

"Oh no you don't. You worry to much. Everything's going to be fine."

We spent the next fifteen minutes waiting before I saw a figure walking over. It was Kira-kun. Everyone went ahead and said hey to him, and he put his arm around me, just as another person walked over.

"You made it, Taicho!" Rangiku-san trilled. Kira stiffened beside me. I flinched away from him. Kira didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

"What is he doing here?" Kira asked, deadpanned. Hitsugaya-kun scowled.

"Look I don't want to be—"

"Well we better get to shopping," I chirped. I grabbed Kira-kun's hand and Hitsugaya-kun's arm and dragged them towards the entrance.

"Shopping?" Kira-kun groaned.

"I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this," Hitsugaya-kun grumbled.

The others following behind us, Rangiku-san took the lead, walking purposefully towards Mary Sue's semi-formal and formal wears. As soon as we walked in I abandoned the boys and started looking at dresses.

Rangiku-san floated over to me fifteen minutes later with a pile of dresses in her hands.

"Ladies!" She called. We all drifted back over to her. "I've got some dresses that would match you guys perfectly!" She herded us to the dressing rooms and then started passing out dresses. The one I got was this elegant deep blue. The fabric felt silky to the touch.

"Well what are you all waiting for? Go and change already!" We all scuttled into the different rooms to change.

When I pulled on the dress, I wasn't surprised to see that it fit perfectly and looked good as well. The dress was deep blue and had a red rose on one side that all the fabric on the top part of the dress twisted towards. The bottom of the dress was a lighter blue fabric and wasn't nearly as thick. It seemed to float around me. I loved it at once. Leave it to Rangiku-san to pick something so perfect for me to wear.

"Momo-chan, what's taking so long? Come on out!"

"Be there in a second," I opened the door to the stall and walked out. The other girls were already standing out there as well. Rangiku-san squealed. "You guys look so cute!" She turned around and called "Hey Taicho, Kira, get over here!"

The drifted over from the corner of the shop where all the guys seemed to be hiding.

I looked down the row of girls to see the dresses. Rukia was wearing a black and white knee length strapless dress. Lacy white flowers encircled the top part of it right underneath the lacy white flowers was black fabric that made up the torso of the dress. A red ribbon was tied in a bow around the middle of the torso in the back and while the bow itself was small, the ribbon was long so that it floated everywhere. The rest of the dress was white with black lace as a trim.

Orihime's dress was deep red with faint black flowers on it. It had a cut up one side that ended mid thigh and the other side hung down to her knees. Gauzy material edged the dress.

Ururu's dress was a pale pink one. Its sleeves were the puffy kind with a little bit of white lace at the end of it. It had an empress waist which was outlined by a darker pink silk ribbon woven in and out of it. It reached just above her knees.

Karin and Yuzu were wearing matching style dresses. Both had simpler off the shoulder designs. It hugged their torso but became looser from there down. Karin's was black (of course) and Yuzu's was white.

They all looked incredibly pretty, but by far, Rukia's was my favorite. It fit her personality along with her style. Rangiku-san was as amazing as always.

When the boys got to us they raised their eyebrows.

"Not bad, Matsumoto. They really—"

"Yeah. You're a really good—" They both cut off as their eyes got to me. I blushed bright pink. I stepped out and did a little twirl.

"What do you guys think? Does it look good on me?"

"Oh, yeah, boys. Do tell, what do you think?" Rangiku-san said.

"Yeah, it really does," Kira-kun said. Hitsugaya-kun's ears had turned pink.

"I guess its okay," He mumbled, looking away from me. I walked over to him, trying to get in his line of vision, but he kept turning away from me. The other's laughed.

"Awww Hitsugaya-san's embarrassed," Rukia said laughing playfully.

"Shut up. I'm not."

"It's okay Toshiro-kun." Orihime voiced cheerfully.

I smiled widely at him. "Thank you, Shiro-chan," He looked at me sharply.

Rukia snorted trying to hold back a laugh. "Shiro-chan?!" She stopped trying and busted out laughing.

Ururu smiled. Orihime went "Awww that's so cute." Yuzu smiled and Karin chuckled. Rangiku-san joined Rukia and busted out laughing.

"Shut up Hinamori!"

"Shiro-chan?" Asked a quiet voice. The laughing and giggling stopped. I turned towards Kira-kun.

Kira-kun! I'd totally forgotten that he was here! My face went pale. He wasn't supposed to hear that. I watched him carefully. He was staring me straight in the eye.

"Kira-kun, Hang on just a second. It's nothing, just a joke." I said frantically

He looked away. "You're lying."

"Kira-kun—!"

"Kira, hang on a second. It's just a joke. Nothing to get worked up about—" Rangiku-san tried to remedy the situation by backing me up.

"Thanks for inviting me Matsumoto," He said as he checked his watch. "But I have other things to do and," He looked back up at me. "I don't think I'm wanted here." He turned and walked out of the store. I sprinted after him.

"Hinamori!" Rukia called after me. "You can't leave! You're still wearing the dress!" I looked down and saw that I was still wearing the blue dress and that I wasn't wearing shoes either.

I shot back into my dressing room and threw the dress off and yanked my clothes on. I was hopping out the door still pulling on a high-heeled boot. I threw the dress into Rangiku-san's awaiting arms. "Do me a favor and buy this dress for me; I'll pay you back by tomorrow!" As soon as the boot was on properly I sprinted out of the store after Kira-kun.

I ran back the way we came looking desperately for him. He was nowhere to be found. I spent a half-hour looking for him before I despairingly collapsed on a bench. He was gone, he was mad, and I had screwed up big-time.

I heard the sound of foot steps and looked up to see my friends. Rangiku-san had an incredibly guilty look on her face. She held out a bag with the store's logo on it. The other's shifted uncomfortably behind her. All except Hitsugaya-kun who was looking just as guilty, even though it was most certainly not his fault.

"Here's the dress, Momo-chan. And you don't have to pay me back. It's the least I could after causing all this trouble."

I smiled gratefully. "Thanks Rangiku-san. And it's not your fault, this was coming and you and I both knew it."

"Did you guys break up?" Orihime asked softly. Rukia nudged her shaking her head.

I smiled sadly. "I didn't catch up to him, so officially no. But I don't think he's going to want…" I trailed off. "We might just be."

"I'm so sorry. I thought maybe the two of them together with all of us shopping would help them…I don't know…bond?" Rangiku-san sighed. "I just keep messing up. I knew they don't get along, but I just…"

"I had a feeling this was a set up," Hitsugaya-kun said softly

"You had a good idea, but I think this was the wrong way to go about it," Karin said. "Momo, why don't you invite Kira-kun for dinner and have Hitsugaya there too? Maybe then they can chat a little with you as the mediator and possibly become friends."

"Yeah! It could be an apology and a way for them to bond," Yuzu said. Ururu nodded.

"I don't think that will go over very well," Hitsugaya-kun interjected. "He hates me now, I know that, and seeing me over in her apartment won't exactly help," Leave it to him to see the fatal flaw in a good plan. "A real apology would be for you two to have dinner alone."

"I agree with Taicho. That sounds like a better idea."

I was silent for a moment. "Thanks guys. I'll try that."

The nodded and smiled. Then Rukia said, "Well Orihime and I agreed to meet the boys at the park for a little bit of time killing so we'd better go."

Yuzu nudged Karin. "We've got chores to do. That clinic's not going to clean itself."

Ururu mildly said, "I'm supposed to meet Jinta and we're supposed to go see a movie so…" We all smirked in her direction. "What? We're just friends…"

"Sure, we believe that," Karin said rolling her eyes. I laughed.

"Well what about you Rangiku-san? I know you have plans. It's Saturday." She sighed giving in a little.

"Yeah, I'm meeting Hisagi and we're going to be hanging out." I raised an eyebrow. "We're not back together, before you guys start making fun, we're just friends." She looked over in Hitsugaya-kun direction. "What about you, Taicho?"

"I don't have anything planned."

"Great, so you can walk Momo-chan home," Rangiku-san said.

"I can get home by myself."

"It's no big deal," He answered. I shot him a look of surprise.

The others bid us good bye and left for their respective purposes. I sat there on the bench silently while Hitsugaya-kun stood quietly beside it.

He looked around and then stopped on a certain spot. He stood there frowning for a moment before walking off.

I sighed. I didn't expect much out of him, but to just ditch me here? That was really harsh.

I was about to stand up and leave when an ice cream cone was shoved in my face. I blinked at it and then followed the hand holding it up to the person's face.

Hitsugaya-kun was looking away nonchalantly while licking a vanilla cone.

"Here."

I took the cone from him. "Thanks." I licked it and found out that it was peach ice cream. My favorite, for obvious reasons. I smiled shyly. He was trying to apologize for today's trouble and cheer me up.

"Peach ice cream's my favorite. How'd you know?"

He glanced in my direction then quickly glanced away. "Lucky guess."

I smiled.

* * *

**_I sort of feel like I made Kira overreact here, but at the same time, he was already jealous of Hitsugaya so it's justified right?_**

**_Tell me what you think!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Here we are at chapter 6._**

**_*Sobs* School starts in 6 days for me, and that number just reminded me of thae fact that I DON'T WANNA GO BACK!!!!_**

**_Oh, well. It's only for 10 monthes. *Sobs again* TT^TT_**

**_Stardust897 over._**

* * *

Things really started to heat up Tuesday. It was after practice and I was walking towards the boys as they broke off into their own little groups before they went home.

"Kira-kun, Kira-kun!" I shouted running up to him. He turned around towards me.

"Hinamori-chan." He didn't even seem like he was looking at me. It felt more like he was looking through me.

"I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner tomorrow…just the two of us?" I asked timidly. His eyes finally focused on me.

"Dinner?" He was quiet for a moment. "Okay. What time should I come over?"

"8 o'clock is fine. So…see you then?"

"Yeah." He turned and walked away. I smiled brightly and pumped my fist up in the air triumphantly. People had started to leave and I saw my usual group headed towards the gate as Rangiku-san joined them. I ran over to them.

"Rangiku-san, everyone, guess what?!"

"You're cheerful as always. What happened?" Ichigo-kun asked.

"Kira-kun agreed to come over for dinner!" I beamed.

"Really?" Karin asked. "Thank goodness. Everything's okay." Yuzu nodded.

"A romantic dinner?" Rangiku-san asked. "That really was a good idea of yours, Taicho."

I turned towards him. "Yeah! Thank you so much Shiro-chan!"

He reshouldered his backpack, and turned away from me. "Yeah, good for you." Then walked out the gate and headed home, leaving the rest of us alone. I frowned.

"What's the matter with him? He's the one who suggested it," Karin said raising an eyebrow.

Ichigo-kun watched the spot that he'd disappeared from for a few moments then looked at Rangiku-san.

"Matsumoto-san—"

"Don't Ichigo. She doesn't understand."

"I thought as much," he sighed. My frown deepened. What exactly were they talking about?

I didn't get the chance to ask because right then the rest of Ichigo-kun's group showed up.

"Hey Ichigo, track let out early and so did crafts so I thought the five of us should hang out," Rukia said. Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled slightly as Orihime bounced around excitedly.

"Yeah, we should! Especially since the five of us don't get to hang out as often. We should invite Keigo-kun and Chad-kun as well!" Orihime said cheerfully. Ichigo visibly cringed when she said Keigo but relaxed at Chad. Those two had been friend forever.

"Okay, why not?" Ichigo said. "Where should we go?"

"How about that new ice cream shop downtown?" Renji suggested. I smiled as they continued to make their plans.

"I guess I'd better get going," I said to Karin and Yuzu. "I'll see you tomorrow," They nodded and I began walking quietly away.

"Momo-chan!" Rangiku-san called after me. I turned around. "I'm going to help you plan. What are you going to be making for Kira?"

"I don't know yet. I was thinking of something simple, like curry."

"Hmm. Sounds good. It's the type of dish that can either be eaten normally, or dolled up a bit for a date, but it's simple to make."

"Yeah. I guess I better go shopping today. Do you want to come with me?"

"Ah, no. I really need to catch up on homework. I'd really like to become a senior next year." I laughed at that.

"You always wait till last minute, Rangiku-san. Well then I'll be seeing you. Bye!"

It was already 6 o'clock when I got back from the store. I fished the key out of my pocket and opened the door. It was silent as always, making me a little bit sad. I missed my parents greeting me every time I walked in the door. It was lonely, and I didn't want to feel alone

Maybe that was why I said yes when Kira-kun asked me out. Maybe Rangiku-san was right, and he was just a distraction.

Maybe I should have waited for the right person to come along instead.

I turned on the T.V. just to have some background noise and then put away the groceries.

The T.V. was on a local new station and I was only half listening until I heard:

"_And now we have Masaki-san with the news on the recent trouble with the gang in Seireitei"._

I froze.

"_Yes, thank you. Lately there have been disturbances caused by a gang called the Espada who used to reside in Huceo Mundo, but seem to_ _have spread their path of destruction elsewhere. Already we've had people receive threat letters, armed robberies, and other heinous crimes have been committed including a girl of 15 being kidnapped."_

The box that I had been holding dropped out of my hand. I raced over to my phone and called Rangiku-san.

"Hey, Rangiku here."

"Rangiku-san, It's me, Momo. Have you seen the news?"

"No, I just got home, why?"

"Turn to channel 13," I said my voice strained.

"Okay, but are you alright Momo?" I heard the click of the T.V. on Rangiku-san's end turning on.

"_It seems that the gang is in search of a few choice people. We won't reveal names for the safety of these people, but if you have any information about the Espada that could help take them down, please call…"_

I heard Rangiku-san gasp quietly. And then say very softly, "Gin."

"What are we going to do? They're after us! We're the ones that nearly got them caught the first time!" I said my voice high.

"We can't do anything yet. We don't even know if it _is_ us. For now, we just have to act like nothing's wrong. Okay Momo? We can't act like we have any connections to these people, good or bad. It'd just cause trouble for the others."

"Okay. Okay."

"Relax Momo-chan. They don't even know where we are."

"Alrighty then. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I've still got to do that homework."

"Bye," I sighed.

I pressed the end button on my cell and tossed it on the table, and then shut the TV off and turned the CD player on. The song Jikan yo Tomare began playing. I did my own homework, finishing at about 8 o'clock.

All of the past few days madness, the after school practices, finally caught up to me as the song Shiki no Uta played in the background. I had always loved the meaning of this song.

_I was all alone_

_I set off on my journey to find you_

_Now I'll awaken my memories_

_And begin to walk towards you._

And for some reason the person I thought of wasn't Kira-kun, not even that monster Aizen. No, the person I thought of was—"

"Toshiro…"

And I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Bang. Bang. BANG!_

"Hinamori! Are you alive?! We're going to be late!" I awoke to someone pounding on my door. I groggily looked around and saw that I had fallen asleep at the table. The CD player was still on, playing some song that I was too drowsy to recognize.

"Huh?"

"HINAMORI!! We're going to be late for school!" Hitsugaya-kun voice cut through my thoughts. I looked at the clock on the CD player in alarm. It read 8:18.

"Shit!" I cursed. I wasn't someone who used language like that very often, but considering that school started at 8:30…

"I'll be out in a second!" I shouted. I raced into my room and changed as quickly as I could into my uniform. I slung the ribbon around my neck, not even bothering to tie it. I left my hair down, grabbed my school bag and dumped my homework into it, keys, turned off the CD player, which now read 8:20 and raced out the door.

Hitsugaya was standing by the door as I flew out, locking it behind me. I ran for the stairs yelling "C'mon!" We had less than ten minutes to get to school, which was over a mile away, and it was cold today, considering it was still early spring.

Shoot I forgot my jacket! But we didn't have enough time.

"What the hell?! What were you doing, Hinamori?"

"I was sleeping! I haven't gotten much in the past few days!"

"Good grief, I spent a half hour trying to wake you up!" he snapped as we raced past Urahara's shop. I waved a good morning to Urahara-san.

"No one asked you to wait!" I shouted back. He stopped talking all of a sudden. I turned back to him. "What?"

"Well sorry for trying to be a good friend!" He looked straight ahead and kept running. I frowned. I hadn't meant it like that.

"I'm sorry, and thank you." I murmured. We ran for the next few minutes in silence. I shivered. It was unusually cold today, and all I had on was my thin school uniform shirt, my tiny uniform skirt and some thigh high black tights.

Hitsugaya fiddled with the front of his jacket for a few moments before taking it off and handing it to me.

"You look like you're about to freeze to death." He said when I gave him a questioning look. "Put that on."

I took the jacket and put it on (an impressive feat considering I was still running and holding on to my school bag.) "But what about you?" I asked.

"I'll be fine. I like the cold."

For the rest of the time we ran in silence. The only thing I could hear was his controlled breathing (stupid soccer player) and my own heartbeat.

At last the school came into view, just as the bell rang. The gates began to close. I picked up into a sprint just as Hitsugaya did and we ran through just as they closed behind us.

We ran into the building, up two flights of stairs (jumping two at a time) and yanked our homeroom's door open just as Kuchiki-sensei said "Hinamori?"

"Here," I wheezed. He looked at the door where Hitsugaya-kun and I were standing. I stumbled through and to my seat.

Kuchiki-sensei didn't even ask any questions. I'm sure in his opinion; we'd made it before either of our names had been called, so we weren't late.

I slumped in my seat. It had been nearly a year since I ran distance on the track team, and I was feeling the effects of not training.

I looked at Hitsugaya-kun, who barely looked winded by the early morning marathon sprint, and gave him a thumbs up.

He sighed and shook his head. I giggled.

I turned to Karin when she tapped me on the shoulder.

"Where were you this morning?" She whispered.

"Slept in. Hitsugaya-kun had to wake me up," I said still a bit out of breath.

"Hey, at least you made it," Karin said shrugging.

I nodded. I had made it. And what had surprised me more was the fact the Hitsugaya-kun had actually waited for me.

I smiled to myself.

* * *

"Alright ladies! That's all for practice today. Tomorrow's practice will be extra light, so if you haven't gotten that dress for Friday, you'll be able to get it!"

Some of the girls thanked Rangiku-san. I heard a sigh of relief from behind me and turned around towards it.

Maria-chan was standing there running a hand through her curly black locks.

"Thank goodness. I still haven't gotten a dress. We're lucky to have such an understanding captain."

I nodded. "Yeah, she's the best."

"What about you Momo-chan? Have you gotten a dress?"

We had begun walking to the bleachers where our stuff was. "Yes, I have. Rangiku-san, Karin-chan, and some of our friends went and bought them on Saturday."

I picked up my school bag and jacket.

"Oh. Hey," She pointed at the jacket. "When did you get that? It's such a nice color."

I looked down. "Oh! This isn't my jacket. It's Hitsugaya-kun's."

"Eh? You're so lucky to be friends with him! He's so cute."

I smiled. "Yeah," I answered softly. "He is."

"But, you know, he's rather mean. I tried talking to him and he gave me the cold shoulder."

"That doesn't sound like him. He's always very kind to me."

She touched her finger to her lips. "Maybe he likes you?"

I laughed a bit uneasily. "Oh, yeah right. I'm so plain, what would he like about me?"

"Oh, you're not plain! And you have such a nice personality! You have a lot of nice qualities. And don't forget that Kira-san likes you."

I shook my head smiling. "Thank you Maria-chan, but I think you're mistaken."

She shrugged. "Well, if he doesn't like you, maybe I can get him to like me!"

My fist clenched involuntarily. I forced a smile. "Good luck," I said. "Any way, I'm going to go and return this to Hitsugaya-kun. See you tomorrow Maria-chan!"

"Bye-bye Momo-chan!" She waved and then walked away. I looked up and saw that it was overcast.

_Looks like it's going to rain soon._

I turned and walked over to where the boys were doing their cool down stretching.

* * *

**_Jikan yo Tamore (Stop time)by AZU- Itazura na Kisses' 2nd ending theme (It's a good anime go check it out!)_**

**_Shiki no Uta (Song of the Four Seasons) by Minmi- Samurai Champloo's first ending_**

**_So what do you think? Happy they made up? ^^_**

**_Mwa ha ha ha ha! XD_**

**_*Cough* Okay I'm done. Anyway, it seems (for the most part) that side pairings have been decided. If you want a say, go and vote on my poll!_**

**_Stardust897 over and out._**


	7. Chapter 7

The boys were standing around doing their cool down stretching. I was walking towards them at a relaxed pace not really bothering to hurry.

Kira-kun, walked past me to pick up the soccer balls scattered about and I smiled.

"We're still having dinner, right?" Kira asked.

"Of course," I said. "Oh, I have to go and return this to Hitsugaya-kun, so I'll see you later, alright?"

His smile wavered, but returned with the slightest bit of falseness. "Sure."

As I approached the circle of boys from behind I heard Ichigo-kun say quietly,

"Now that Kira's not around is the best time to ask."

"Yeah," Renji answered. The other boys besides Hitsugaya-kun nodded.

Hitsugaya-kun looked up from a toe touch. "Ask what?"

Ichigo fidgeted a little. "Well, I—we've been wondering, but do you…?" He trailed off.

Ikkaku decided to finish the sentence. "You've got the hots for Hinamori don't you?"

I dropped the jacket.

Hitsugaya-kun pitched forward almost landing in the wet grass ungracefully, but managed to put an arm out and catch himself. When he looked up again, I saw that his face was bright red.

He looked up at Ichigo and the others. "I. Do. Not."

One of Ikkaku's best friends, Yumichika, answered. "Then why is your face such an unbeautiful bright red?"

"It's not. And I don't." He said again and for some reason I felt like someone was stepping on my chest.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Then what's up with all the secret meetings in the library?"

"We're studying."

"Yeah. Each other." Renji muttered

"Shut up Abarai, and what's so secret about it? She announced where we were going."

Hisagi sat up. "You don't have to lie Hitsugaya."

"I'm not!"

"Oh yeah?" Ikkaku retorted. "Then last Saturday you guys weren't on a date at the mall?"

Hitsugaya-kun's face turned even redder. I bent down to pick the jacket up.

"Yeah, I was there. Mizuho dragged me there to look for a dress and I saw the two of you sitting on a bench eating ice cream. That scene looked way to cuddly for the two of you to be 'just friends'."

Keigo, Mizuho-san's brother added, "Yeah she told me how the two of you made an oh-so-cute couple. Waaah! Why can't I get a girl?"

"She was there to buy a dress!" Hitsugaya-kun said exasperatedly.

"Oh, so you went with her dress shopping?" Renji asked. "I thought only boyfriends did that."

"Her boyfriend was there! Or at least he was."

"Was?" Hisagi asked.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Something happened, and he got pissed off and left. I bought her some ice cream to cheer her up a bit, that's all!"

"Oh, so you decided to take advantage of the fact that she was depressed to make a move?" Yumichika said smirking a little.

"How clever." Ikkaku added. I felt so bad for him. This was practically my fault.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not believing you. You're acting a bit too nervous."

Renji nodded. "Yeah, good thing Kira's not around to see and hear this."

"See and hear what?" Kira-kun asked walking up.

Hitsugaya sighed out of his nose. "Noth—"

"How Hitsugaya is madly in love with Hinamori. Why can't I get a girl?!" Keigo lamented. I groaned softly.

Kira-kun turned slowly towards him. The other boys started to back up a bit. Even I could see that this was going nowhere good.

"What?" His voice was dangerously quiet.

Hitsugaya-kun shot a nasty look in Keigo's direction. "Nothing."

"Saw them getting ice cream on Saturday." Ikkaku added, fueling the situation. I was so going to give him a piece of my mind later.

"Oh, so after I left, you took her on a date?" He grabbed Hitsugaya-kun by the collar and dragged him forward. Hitsugaya shoved him back. Now it was really starting to look like a fight, and I was getting worried.

"Kira, whoa!" Hisagi said stepping forward. "It's not that big a deal, man. Let it go."

"Stay away from Momo-chan; otherwise I'll make your life hell." I winced. Kira-kun was never like this before. It didn't help that with all these guys around the testosterone levels had to be through the roof. Something moronic was bound to happen. I started walking closer.

Hitsugaya-kun narrowed his eyes and dropped into a martial arts stance. Uh-oh.

"I'd like to see you try." Oh yes. There was the stupid.

Kira lunged.

"Kira!" Hisagi yelled. I froze in horror.

Kira went for a straight punch to the face. Hitsugaya rolled out of the way and went for a kick straight upwards. Kira ducked and did a low spin kick. Hitsugaya leaped out of the way at the last second. He stepped in for a punch and Kira blocked. Kira went for a roundhouse kick, Hitsugaya ducked at the last second.

This kept going for a few moments, this strange dance. I had no idea that either of them were experienced martial artists.

A crowd had gathered watching in shock. I saw a few familiar faces, including Jinta, Ururu, Yuzu, Karin and Rangiku-san. Fights didn't happen at this school very often and it seemed everyone wanted a good show.

Kira finally got a punch to the ribs in. I gasped.

"Kira! Stop! It's enough!" Renji yelled. Hitsugaya retaliated with a knee to the stomach. It made contact.

This had gone on long enough. I dropped the jacket and the rest of my stuff and ran towards the fight. I had taken aikido for a little while when I was younger and I was no push over.

I tripped Kira-kun and shoved Hitsugaya-kun away. Kira recovered before he hit the ground and Hitsugaya merely stumbled.

"That's enough." I said softly, but firmly. I looked at Hitsugaya-kun. "No more." I looked at Kira-kun. "It's enough. You're both being stupid. You could really hurt yourselves."

"Why are you protecting him?" Kira asked. "Why?"

"I'm not protecting—" I said.

"Yes you are! It's all about him now! Hitsugaya-kun, this and Shiro-chan that!" I flinched back.

The crowd around us had gone entirely silent. I hated the fact that we had an audience for this fight.

"It's not! We're just friends Kira-kun! Why are you so worried about this?" My voice was starting to crack.

"Just friends? You've only known each other for a little over a week and you walk to school together—"

"We live in the same apartment building!" I wailed.

"—you spend half your lunch with him—"

"We're studying." I said. My voice sounded weak to my own ears.

"—and you have a pet name for him!" He shouted. I burst into tears. I couldn't take it anymore. He looked at me, and I saw through my tears him shake his head.

"I've had enough. I'm leaving." He picked up his bag and began to walk away. The crowd parted around him. I ran after him.

"Kira-kun!" I shouted. He kept walking. I tripped in the grass "Kira-kun! KIRA-KUN!" My voice went shrill. He didn't even look back. I scrubbed at the tears on my face but they just kept coming.

Finally I went and picked up the jacket and walked back over to Hitsugaya-kun.

"Here." I whispered, holding the jacket up and keeping my head down. "Thank you."

"Hinamori…" I looked up at him. I could feel the tears slipping down my face, but I looked him in the eye. He stared back at me, his eyes wide and worried.

I turned away from him and with my head held high I walked back over to where I had dropped my things and picked them up. It started to rain.

A perfect way to end this ugly scene.

The crowd had dispersed, aside from my friends, and they just stood there. I headed towards the gates. I looked at them as I passed them by and smiled through my tears.

"Momo," Karin said. I started to walk faster.

"Hinamori," Jinta murmured. I started to jog.

"Momo-chan!" Rangiku-san called.

I dashed out of the gates and ran home in the rain.

* * *

It was already 6 o'clock and I was standing at the kitchen counter staring at the ingredients of curry debating on whether to prepare it or not.

I finally decided I would and got a pot out and started boiling some water. I pulled out my favorite chopping board (the one in the shape of a peach) and started slicing carrots, potatoes and onions.

I was just about to take the curry packet out and pour it into the water to begin the sauce when my cell phone rang.

I walked over to where my stuff was and rifled through it and found it. The caller ID read Rangiku.

She'd always been there for me, I had to pick up.

"Hello? Hinamori here."

"Momo-chan? Oh, thank goodness. Where are you?" Rangiku-san said with a hint of panic.

"I'm at home."

"Okay, good. Do you want me and the others to come over for a little girl time?" I smiled. That was Rangiku-san for you. She didn't ask you if you were okay, she just made suggestion on how to make you feel better.

"No. I'm having dinner at 8 remember?"

"Momo, I don't think he's going to be coming."

"He will. I'm sure of it."

"Momo…"

"Anyway, I'm cooking right now, so I'll talk to you tomorrow okay? Bye." And I hung up before she got the chance to answer.

I went back into the kitchen and started on the sauce. I brought out another pot and started boiling the rice.

By 7:45 all the food was ready and in neat little serving bowls. I had about 9 missed calls but I just didn't feel like talking to anyone right then so I continued to ignore them.

When I took a better look at my self I saw that I was still in my wet school uniform and that I needed to change.

I walked to my bedroom and fished through my closet for something to wear. I pulled out a short sleeved pink turtle neck, a brown skirt, and a pair of cute wedge flip-flops.

I put them on and looked in the mirror and saw that my hair was also a mess so I pulled it down. It was still damp so it fell in waves and I decided I'd leave it that way.

I walked back out at about 8'o clock and waited on the couch.

He would come. He wasn't the type to just not show, even if he was mad.

8:30 came and passed. Something came up. He was just a little late.

9:00

9:30

9:45.

Finally I received a text message. I lunged for my phone expecting it to be Kira-kun flashing across the screen. It wasn't. Instead it was Hitsugaya-kun.

I opened it.

_**Hows dinner going?**_

I blinked. I hadn't expected him to care at all. I glanced at the clock. It read 9:50.

I started to blink back tears as I texted back,

_**Fine.**_

I tossed my phone onto the other side of the couch and curled up on the other side. He wasn't coming, and deep down, I'd known all along he wasn't, but I wanted to believe that he would come. Even if he was mad, maybe to patch things up.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I stood up and walked over to the door automatically.

When I opened the door Hitsugaya-kun was standing there. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"Hey," he said quietly.

A smile tugged at my lips. "Hey."

I was more than a bit surprised to see him there, but I didn't say anything.

"I just wanted—"He started then stopped abruptly, and sighed like he couldn't find the right words to say.

"To make sure I was okay?" I finished for him. He looked at me quickly. Then looked away blushing a bit.

"Yeah."

I smiled a watery smile. "Thank you." We stood there in silence for a moment before I finally said. "Would you like to come in?"

"Uh, um. Sure." He stepped inside and glanced around. I waved him over to the couch and offered him something to drink. He shook his head. So we sat down on the couch quietly, not saying anything.

"I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have gotten provoked so easily."

I looked up at him. "That's alright. It was bound to happen sooner or later." I rubbed at the tears threatening to spill over. After a few moments of trying to hold them back, I gave in and put my head on his shoulder and just sobbed.

I think I shocked him a bit because he turned rather suddenly towards me. My head bumped off his shoulder and onto his chest. He tentatively wrapped his arms around me and I gripped the fabric of his shirt.

And we just sat like that for a bit, me crying against his chest, and him gently holding me, as if I was a fragile doll. When I finally calmed down and lifted my head off of his chest I brushed away the remaining tears.

"Sorry. I guess I just needed that."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it." I smiled again. Sure he was cold around others but when it was just the two of us, he was really a very sweet guy.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Eh?" I gestured towards the table, which was set for two. "Oh, yeah. Actually I am. I haven't eaten yet."

I grinned and stood up, pulling him towards the table. We sat down and dished our food. He took a bite, and while I was trying to be subtle about it, I really wanted to know his opinion of my cooking.

He caught me looking at him and raised a perfect eyebrow, as he chewed thoughtfully. "It's good, not to spicy, and I like that."

I smiled triumphantly. For some reason I was happy even though he wasn't the one the food was meant for.

"Sooo," I asked, drawing out the word, "You and Kira-kun didn't get kicked off the team for fighting did you?"

He shook his head. "The coach took a day off, and nobody is going to squeal."

"That's good."

"Yeah."

We continued eating and Hitsugaya-kun polished off his plate in record time and glanced at me for approval as he went for seconds.

I stifled a giggle and nodded. "Hey," I said.

"Hmm?" he grunted his mouth full.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble that I'm going to cause you. I know that this isn't the end of it."

He swallowed. "I'm ready for it. But before the rumors start flying, I want to one thing."

"Yes?" I answered taking a sip of water.

"Do you love him?"

I choked.

"I'm sorry, what?" I answered.

His eyebrows knit together. "I asked if you loved him."

I set my glass down. I already knew the answer to that question.

"I…I don't—" I sighed. "No." I whispered at last.

"I see."

"Why do you want to know?"

"No reason." He finished off his plate and his lips turned up in a slight smile, something I'd never seen on him before. It surprised me that he didn't smile more often, he looked even cuter when he did. "Thanks for the meal, but I better be going. It's already 10:30."

My eyes flashed to the clock. That late already?!

"Oh, yeah. I should get ready for school. Thank goodness we didn't have any homework." I stood up and began following him to the door.

"Yeah, are they always this nice?"

I shook my head. "No. I guess they know that now that it's spring, everyone's doing a sport."

He grabbed the doorknob and turned it. I caught his arm without thinking about it. He turned back towards me, letting go of the doorknob. I gave him a quick hug and whispered "Thank you."

He turned bright red. "I'll see you tomorrow, Momo." My eyes widened. That was the first time he'd called me by my first name.

"Yeah. See you later Toshiro-kun."

* * *

**_ I seriously tried to get in Momo's sort of disconnection with reality in here. I mean I love her, but she needs to get over Aizen and see the fact that Hitsugaya likes her._**

**_One day she'll wake up...we hope._**

**_I have no clue when the next time I update will be. School started yesterday, I'm in the 8th grade, and I had written homework in every class. And not the get to know you kind, the do these problems or read this passage, or start researching for that science project. _**

**_I swear to the heavans above if I have to do ONE MORE SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT I'm going to RIP MY HAIR OUT!!!!!_**

**_Granted, I'm in honors classes which means doing both 8th grade standards and 9th grade standards. Not so easy._**

**_So don't get mad at me if I don't update within two weeks._**

**_Keep up the review though!_**

**_Stardust897_**


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Hitsugaya-kun and I walked into the school yard, I was pounced by the girls. Jinta hung back and just watched.

"Momo!" Karin yelled.

"Momo-chan!" Yuzu and Ururu said in unison.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright." Orihime sighed.

"What happened yesterday? I tried calling you, but you didn't pick up!" Rukia asked. I smiled nervously waving my hands to try and get them to back up enough for me to tell them everything.

"Is that Momo-chan?" I heard Rangiku-san say. I turned around to see her running towards me and catching me in a bone-crushing hug. "Momo-chan!"

"I'm fine Rangiku-san, everyone." I said, my voice a bit muffled by Rangiku-san. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to suffocate when Toshiro-kun's voice piped in,

"Why don't you let her breathe Matsumoto?" Jinta started to laugh.

"Yeah, she's going to die like that you know."

"Oh!" She let me go and I let out a little gasp. I smiled at her when she started apologizing.

"It's okay. And I'm sorry for not returning any of your calls. I was a bit…upset last night." The girls gathered in a big group hug, with me at the center. I was so glad to have a group of friends like them.

Karin sighed. "Just don't scare us like that again. Ichi-nii has been having a guilt trip over this whole thing." I smiled. That was so like Ichigo-kun. "Speak of the devil."

There were the boys, minus Kira, and including Yumichika (that was odd, he only hung out with us occasionally).

Ichigo was standing in the lead, looking the guiltiest. I looked at Karin, and smiled deviously. She raised her eyebrows, then nodded, understanding. I was going to make them grovel for all the trouble they had caused.

"Uh, Hitsugaya?"

I crossed my arms, trying to look mad that they were addressing him first. It must have worked because Ichigo looked even guiltier and I almost gave in.

"Toshiro. About yesterday, we're all really sorry."

"Yeah," Renji echoed. "This is our fault." He looked at Hitsugaya-kun, who gave them a sidelong glance then turned away.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing too." He jabbed his thumb in my direction. "She is."

The all gave me a frightened look.

"Hinamori?"

"Yes?"

The entire group bowed their head to me and said at once, "We're all very sorry!"

I couldn't stay mad at them, so I smiled and said, "Apology…" They looked up sharply. "…accepted."

They gave a collective sigh of relief.

"You're not mad?" Ikkaku asked, the boldest. Hisagi smacked him on the back of the head. I narrowed my eyes at him. He'd caused the most trouble.

"Oh, I'm mad." I said walking straight up to him, "If you thought something was going on, why didn't you come and talk to us on Saturday?"

He looked down.  
"Okay, then." You shouldn't go saying stuff that you don't know about."

"Wait a second. How did you know about what we said?" Ichigo asked surprised.

"I was standing behind you the entire time." Suddenly a lot of faces turned red. I turned to Keigo. "And thanks for making it worse Keigo-san."

"Sorry."

"Now I have to deal with whatever rumors have started. Where's Kira-kun?" I sighed looking around.

The boys shifted uncomfortably. I frowned.

"He decided to play hooky," Renji said at last. "Said he wanted to visit an old friend in Seireitei."

Rangiku-san, Hitsugaya-kun, Hisagi and I all froze.

I felt the blood drain out of my face.

"Hey, what's with all of you?" Jinta asked.

"Nothing," I answered a bit more sharply than necessary "Nothing at all."

I glanced at the others. I understood Rangiku-san and Hisagi's faces, we had all moved here to Karakura town because of our…issues with Seireitei but what about Hitsugaya?

Jinta frowned. "Okay, sorry I asked."

I checked my watch. "Since we've got a few minutes, I think I'm going to go and get in some study time before that math test. I'll see you guys later."

I turned and marched towards the library. I got inside, said a good morning to the librarian, Nanao-sensei, and headed to my favorite spot in the back of the library by the window.

I needed a few minutes to collect my thoughts. Things were getting more and more complicated.

First and foremost, Kira-kun and I were still officially a couple. A couple that was obviously not going to work judging by yesterday's events. I needed to end it as gently as possible, but some things are easier said than done.

Second, Toshiro-kun. He and I were already good friends and it had only been two and a half weeks since he'd moved here. Rangiku-san had mentioned that he liked me, and yesterday the guys had try to confirm the same thing but…

Third, the news concerning Seireitei. The Espada hadn't laid low for long. I knew it was only a matter of time before the hunt began but I didn't think it would be so soon. I needed to talk to Rangiku-san.

I groaned and dropped my head unto the table.

"Mind if I join you?" I looked up and saw Rangiku-san smiling down at me.

I waved at the chair beside me. "Of course not." She sat down and looked at me very carefully.

"Tell me what's worrying you."

I sighed. "A lot."

"Top three and put them into one word categories."She said grinning. This was something we had started a long time ago. It made it easy to tackle the issues.

"One, Kira-kun. Two, Hitsugaya-kun. Three, Seireitei."

"Starting with Seireitei first. That's the biggest issue. What about it?"

I exhaled slowly. "I'm worried about the Espada. I mean they'll all do exactly what Aizen says and I—I'm not ready to face that mess again. After getting kidnapped by the guy I was in love with and then—" My voice cracked. I didn't know why it still hurt to say that. That I loved him. Rangiku-san leaned over and gave me a hug.

"I know. I'm worried too. I have so many questions," She sighed. "I want to know what Gin was thinking. Why he left."

I smiled sadly. "We're pretty messed up aren't we?"

"Oh, we are. But you know what? We've fought the nightmares, the threats, the move, everything together. This is just one more obstacle we'll overcome. Have some hope Momo-chan."

"Thanks Rangiku-san. You're the best friend ever."

"I know, I know. Now on to a more fun topic. What about Taicho?" My face flushed.

"I'm just confused. You know that I've never been good at reading signals. I just don't know what kind Toshir—I mean Hitsugaya-kun—" She gasped cutting me off.

"Did you just call Taicho Toshiro? Does he let you?"

"Well last night—"

"Oooohhh! Last night?!" She grinned. That was Rangiku-san for you.

"No, it's not what you're thinking. Kira-kun didn't come." I said quietly.

She looked at me sympathetically.

"Well it was 9:45 and I was holding out some hope that he would show, and Hitsugaya-kun texted me, asking me how dinner was going. I answered and he came to check on me. He saw that Kira-kun wasn't there, and I invited him in." I paused. She rested her head on her hand thoughtfully.

"And then I sort snapped, and just started crying and he stayed there through it all, even though I was ruining his shirt. And then when I was done, we had the dinner that was supposed to be for Kira and I and we did a little bit of talking. And when he was leaving I gave him a hug to thank him for comforting me, and he said 'I'll see you tomorrow Momo' and I answered 'Yeah see you later Toshiro-kun.'" I continued recounting the previous night's events. Every sentence that I spoke Rangiku-san's head came off of her hand a bit, and her jaw went a little bit slacker.

By the end, her jaw was practically on the floor and her hand was limp.

"And that's what happened." I finished. She continued to gape at me.

"He called you by your first name?" She whispered hoarsely. I nodded. "He's never done that to any girl before."

"Oh, c'mon. You're exaggerating." I said. She just looked at me and I could see that she was being serious.

"He really does have a thing for you."She said in the same fashion that someone would if they couldn't believe they just won a million yen. That was the second time she'd said something like that.

I glanced at my watch. "I won't be able to tell you about Kira-kun yet, because we have to get to class!" I leaped out of my chair and started walking briskly towards the door as Rangiku-san nodded, dazed and followed me out.

* * *

When I come out of Iba-sensei's class, my brain felt like it was about to melt. Why in the world are his tests so hard? It's supposed to be the Algebra I not Algebra II Honors!

I was headed towards the cafeteria building, breathing in the fresh spring air and admiring the sakura trees when I saw a familiar head of black hair sitting underneath one of the trees by herself.

I walked over and sat down beside her. "Hey Rukia-san. Is something the matter?"

Startled she turned in my direction swiftly. When she saw it was just me, she relaxed. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine Hinamori. Anyway I should be the one asking you that. How're you holding up?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay. I'm more worried about Kira-kun. Now tell me what's up because you're not the broody type."

"That's what I hate about you. You can read people."She smiled.

I smiled softly. "It's a gift."

She was quiet for a moment. "I'll tell you if you promise to keep your mouth shut."

"I promise." She was quiet for another moment as if she was still debating on whether I was trust worthy or not. She finally relented.

"It's Ichigo and Renji. They've been fighting a lot for some reason," She sighed. "And by a lot, I mean even more than usual."

"Rough patch in their friendship?"

"That's what I thought three weeks ago. But now I'm beginning to think that something else is up. I mean it's over the most idiotic things. And the stunt hey pulled in the cafeteria the other day?" I nodded, but inside my thoughts were: _Are you that dense? They like you!_

"Well, you know what I think? I think they like you."

Her already large violet eyes widened. "No way," She shook her head in disbelief. "What are you talking about Hin—?"

"Hey," A deep voice interrupted. Rukia grimaced. I turned and saw Ichigo. "What's up you two? Everyone's wondering where you are."

I raised my eyebrows. Everyone? How about just you Ichigo-kun? I know he couldn't care less about me.

"Just chatting. You know, girl stuff." I said with a little smile.

"Right. I'll take that as my hint to get lost?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" I said smiling at Rukia, who was frantically shaking her head at me. "I'm going to go ahead to the cafeteria, and leave you two alone. Maybe you guys can talk." I stood up and brushed off my skirt. "I'll talk to you later Rukia."

She glared at me. "Yeah," she said through slightly clenched teeth, then smiled coolly, her purple eyes sparkling "Say hey to Hitsugaya-san for me."

I shot her a dark look. "See you guys later."

Later on that afternoon I found myself in Urahara's just sitting at the counter. Yoruichi came out in a pair of dark jeans and an orange top yanking her hair into a ponytail.

"Hello, how can we—oh, it's you."

"That's the way to greet customers," I muttered sarcastically.

"Oh, you've been a regular here since last year," She said with a smile as she walked out from behind the counter. "You and your group are more like family. A big dysfunctional family, but family nonetheless. Let me guess, you want a strawberry-banana smoothie."

I looked up at her shocked. "How'd you know?"

"Because that's what you order when you're having boy trouble."

"How'd you know—"

"About Kira and Hitsugaya? I co-own a café where teenagers frequent, teens like to gossip, and teens don't know how to whisper. 'Nuff said."

I groaned. Of course she would hear about this mess. Most of it was probably from Jinta and Ururu discussing it, anything else was the other costumers.

"So, did you really cheat on Kira with Hitsugaya and then let him live in your apartment?"She asked. I stared at her my eyes wide. Where had she heard that from?

Okay, never mind, Jinta and Ururu hand NOTHING to do with it.

"Heck no! Toshir—Hitsugaya-kun and are just friends, I didn't cheat on Kira, and Hitsugaya-kun lives in the same apartment _complex _as me, not the same apartment. Where in the world did you hear the rest of that?"

"Oh, some girls came in here for a quick snack and they were talking about it. Apparently they heard all of this from some girl named 'Maria-chan.'"

My jaw dropped. No way. It couldn't be the Maria-chan that I knew. "Who—"I started but got cut off when my phone rang. I pulled it out of by school bag and looked at the caller ID. It read a number that I had never seen before, but I picked it up anyway.

"Hello? Hinamori here."

"Momo-chan? Hey!"

My eyebrows drew together. This wasn't anybody I talked to so why were they calling me 'Momo'?

"Um, who is this?"

"It's your cousin Senna!" My eyes widened.

"Senna?! Oh my gosh, it's been, what, 5 years? I can't believe it's you!"

"Yeah, we've got to catch up! I'm coming into Karakura town on business this Saturday, are you busy?"

"No I'm not."

"Great! We'll get to hang out! I can't wait to see you!"

"Me too, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye!"

I hung up in a daze. I hadn't spoken to Senna in 5 years. Back then we had been best friends, I really missed her.

"Who was that?" Yoruichi-san asked as she passed me the strawberry-banana smoothie.

I took a sip. "My cousin Senna. I haven't seen her in years, and she's coming to town on Saturday."

"Hmmm. Sounds good. So what of this rumor flying around town?"

"Absolute trash. None of that's happened, and there is no way Maria-chan would say something like that."

She shrugged. "We'll see about that. I'll keep an ear out for you."

I smiled. Yoruichi-san was like a big sister to all of us. "Thanks Yoruichi-san." I said standing up to leave.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Come back soon!"

"I will!"

* * *

**_Ha ha! I got an update in!_**

**_Were you guys really that surprised that I was only in 8th grade? I thought it was kinda obvious that I was young..._**

**_Anyway, check out my profile if you have time to see some awesome Bleach amvs. There's a HitsuHina and GinMatsu by SummelBaerli that I really love along with an absolutely awesome IchiRuki amv by ChappiRukia_**

**_Stardust897 over._**


	9. Chapter 9

_**Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for being so patient with me. My computer had a meltdown while I was in the middle of writing this chapter and writing its prequel **Take a Chance on Me **. I'm very sorry for the wait. I should be done with TCM soon. And ha ha! Despite my fear of having a C on my midterm report I managed to get all A's and two Bs that were both in the 90's. I'm kicking 8th grades a**!**_

* * *

I woke up the next morning extremely excited. Today was the day of the opening ceremony and our boys first scrimmage game. For any type of game, the cheerleaders had to wear their uniforms to school.

I got up a little earlier than usual so I could put on my uniform which consisted of a black and silver mini skirt, a black sleeveless turtleneck top that ended in a V near the bottom with SHINIGAMIS printed in silver letters across the top, just showing off a bit of skin, some long sleeved silver under armor which we had to wear during the school day, a pair of white cheerleading shoes and black and silver socks.

I pulled my long silky brown hair into a high pony tail, wishing that I had a silver ribbon. Good thing I had planned as shopping trip in the city soon. I fixed my bangs so they framed my face, and applied a little bit of makeup. Just some light glitter shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss. Nothing too big.

I did my usual breakfast routine, also grabbing a banana on the way out. I stepped out the door, locked it behind me, and turned towards the stairwell where Hitsugaya-kun was standing in his usual school uniform and backpack. The only difference was the black and silver sports bag that was slung over his shoulder which must have had his uniform in it.

"'Morning Hinamori." He said in his ever cool voice, but when I looked into his eyes I noticed a spark that I'd never seen before. He was excited.

I grinned. "Morning Shiro-chan," I said teasingly. I didn't think it would but it still got to him. His eyebrow twitched just slightly.

"It's Toshiro-kun, geez."

I laughed and started down the stairs as he followed.

"You look nice in your uniform," Toshiro-kun said.

"Thank you. Can't wait to see you in your uniform." I answered and we fell into a comfortable silence, walking past Urahara's shop, Yoruichi-san stuck her head out.

"Good luck, Momo, Toshiro!" She called. I smiled and waved. Toshiro gave a polite nod in her direction.

"Thanks!" I called back. We kept walking and I started to think back to our conversation yesterday. She'd said that she'd heard some girls gossiping and saying that Maria-chan was the one behind the rumors.

"Hey Shiro-chan," He grunted irritably. I ignored him. "Did you hear any funny stuff yesterday?"

"What do you mean funny stuff?"

"Rumors about us. I was talking to Yoruichi-san yesterday and she said she overheard some girls gossiping. Twisted around what happened Wednesday into something about us living together, and me cheating on Kira-kun."

Toshiro-kun made a face. "Well…yeah. I ignored it, but some girls were talking and I heard that it was some girl named Maria that they got their information from."

"No way. Yoruichi-san said the same thing."

"Who's Maria?"

"Takahashi-san."

"That girl with the curly black hair in our science class?"

"Yeah, weird huh? She's really nice."

Just then we passed the corner that we usually met the Kurosaki's at. Karin and Yuzu called a good morning.

"Good morning everyone," I said cheerfully.

"Morning Hinamori. You two excited about the game?"

"Yup!"

"I don't see why they glorify the boys' games more than the girls' games," Karin sniffed indignantly.

"Because the boys have gone to regional's 3 years in a row and the girls haven't in 4 years." Yuzu said flatly

"Plus, they're boys. The people that make the most fuss are the girls because they go to see them simply because the guys on the team are all hot," I added also deadpan.

"That's true," Karin said with a sigh.

"Uh hello, we're right here," Ichigo-kun said waving his hand.

"What? You know, I know, we all know it's the truth," Karin said shrugging.

Ichigo-kun sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Karin, the girls get introduced just like the boys do at the opening ceremony tonight,"

"Speaking of the opening ceremony, whose house are we going to get ready?" Yuzu asked.

"Rukia's. Her house is the biggest." I answered.

"Plus her big sis is pretty good with fashion herself. Isn't she a stylist?" Karin asked.

"Yeah, Hisana-nee's a stylist," Ichigo answered. "So should we pick you girls up at Rukia's?"

We walked into the school yard at that moment and walked to where the rest of our group had gathered.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jinta asked.

"If the guys should come pick us up at Rukia's or not." Karin answered.

Rangiku-san looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why don't you guys come and pick us up and then we go to Urahara's to get some food."

"That sounds good," Ishida-san said.

"Okay! It's decided," I said smiling cheerfully.

And at that moment Rangiku san decided to notice me. She squealed. "Momo-chan, the uniform looks so good on you!"

I blushed slightly when the others took a good look at me.

"You do look cute," Orihime said.

"That uniform really suits you," Rukia said. Ururu nodded.

"It does look good," Hisagi said. Renji and Ichigo nodded.

"Thank you," I murmured, embarrassed. "You look good in yours too Rangiku-san."

She flipped her hair and smiled in response.

"I—" I turned around at the sound of that voice. "I'll meet you guys at Urahara's," Kira-kun said.

I looked down, and then back up at him. "Of course," I murmured.

"I'll see you guys later," And he turned and walked off silently. The group was cutting glanced between me and him.

"Oh, uh, wow, would you look at the time! If we don't get going we'll be late for class," Renji said nervously.

My head snapped up. "Yes," I said a bit more forcefully than necessary. "We'd better get going," We split up by grade again and headed for our respective section of the school. I have to thank Renji later for the save.

* * *

That afternoon was the scrimmage against Seyio Acadamy. The Matsumoto, the rest of the girls and I were in the cheerleaders locker room getting ready. I was standing at a mirror fixing my make-up and hair when a group of girls that were having a conversation moved closer to me.

"I can't wait! This game is so going to rock! We have a ton of good people on the team this year." Said one girl.

"Yeah, and on top of that, they're all really hot!"

"Yeah, and most of them are single!" said another

"You mean all of them," said the first girl.

"Aren't Kira and Hinamori still together?" the second girl asked? I froze immediately.

"Probably not after what I heard," she lowered her voice and whispered what she knew to the others.

"No way!" the second and third girls said in unison. Then they all looked at me. I made myself busy by brushing a strand of hair out of my face.

Rangiku floated up to where I was. "Momo-chan your ponytail is coming loose, let me fix it." She grabbed a brush and pulled the rubber band out of my hair and started brushing my hair.

"Ignore them," she said in a low voice. "They don't know anything."

I shook my head. "But it must have looked awful. They're never going to stop," I whispered back.

"Yeah, and have you noticed, she's like all over Hitsugaya," I heard another girl.

"I mean, I feel sorry for Kira, but can you blame her? He so freaking gorgeous!"

"Yeah, but Kira's a really nice guy. He shouldn't have had to put up with that. I mean where does she come off? She's new here and all she does is act like a slut!"

I flinched. That one stung. What exactly were the rumors that were being spread about?

"Now, now ladies. I'm a pretty understanding captain, but you know I don't like gossip. Stop," Rangiku said in her ever cheerful voice. However, you could hear the undercurrents of authority in it. The girls clamped their mouths shut.

She finished with my hair then turned and said, "The game starts in five, let's get going everyone!" She said and pumped her fist in the air.

The girls followed suit, and squealed, "SHINGAMIS!" We grabbed our pompoms and dashed out.

We made our way onto the field quickly. I took the time to check out the stands. Even though it was just a scrimmage, the stands were filled with people.

The crowd cheered as we ran out. We made it to mid field where the other teams cheerleaders were. We fell into a V formation with Rangiku, the captain, in the lead. Maria and I were the two directly behind her. She walked over to the Seyio academy's squad captain and shook hands.

The captain of their squad was a tall, slender blond. The two girls behind her were a pink haired girl and a short girl with honey blond hair.

"Matsumoto Rangiku. I'm the captain. It's nice to meet you."

"Hoshina Utau. It's nice meeting you. I assume we've agreed to play fair?"

"As cheerleaders?" Rangiku said with a little laugh, "I wish,"

Hoshina-san smiled. "Of course."

We walked to our respective sides of the field as the soccer players stormed out. I caught a glimpse of Kira and Toshiro, and my heart ached. I knew exactly what I had to do tonight.

The referee stood by, tossed that ball in the air, and the game began.

* * *

The end of the game came rather quickly (We won of course), and I raced home to go and grab my clothes and make-up. I had to catch a ride with the Ichigo-kun, Karin and Yuzu because I wasn't old enough to have a license but Ichigo had already gotten his.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I hopped into the car.

"No problem squirt. I have to take these two anyway."

"And that's why your awesome Ichi-nii," Karin said as she relaxed in the front seat of the Toyota Camry.

"I just don't get why all of you have to get together to get ready. Geez, can't you do all of that at home?"

Yuzu sighed and shook her head. "He just doesn't understand. You see we have to get an opinion on how we look from people we know will tell the truth."

"Why not trust your own opinion?"

"See, then we wouldn't be girls. It's just the way we are Ichi-nii. Don't try and understand a woman's mind."

"Right, giving up now."

"Oh, I love this song!" I said as Aqua Timez's Velonica came on. "Please turn it up.

There are mountains, valleys, cliffs"

Dust is piling up

In the middle of my endless journey, I stop by at the edge of a town

I throw down my tired legs softly

If I lie down, I'll end up repeating my shallow sleep

I'll see that same profile over and over; hear those same words over and over…

"Am I the only one who thinks just living is sad?"

We all started singing along, Yuzu's and my soprano's mixing in with Karin's alto and Ichigo's tenor.

By the time that song and the next was over, we'd made it to Rukia's house. Or rather, the Kuchiki estate.

You see, the Kuchiki were actually an old (and I do mean OLD) clan. They'd continued living in a huge estate, with many houses all sitting on huge pieces of land. From what Rukia had told me, her older brother was the head of the family, so of course they're house stood at the top of the hill overlooking all the other houses.

This wasn't the first time I'd been there, but the sheer size of the place never ceased to amaze me. Karin, Yuzu and I all hopped out of the car and walked up to the front door and rang the door bell.

A pretty woman, who I would have mistaken for Rukia, but for the fact that her face was a bit more heart shaped, her lips were fuller, and her hair was a bit longer than Rukia's. But other than that it was hard to tell the difference. She had the same large purple eyes, the same calm, calculating gaze, and her eyes held that same toughness that told you that this wasn't someone to mess with.

She smiled gently. "Ah, you're here. Please come inside, Rukia and the others are upstairs."

Karin and Yuzu smiled. "Thanks Hisana-san."

I panicked for a moment. This was the first time I'd met Hisana-san. At the last minute I regained my wits and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, Kuchiki-san. My name is Hinamori Momo."

"Now, now. There's no need to be so formal. Please call me Hisana."

"Y-yes."

She smiled warmly at me and then looked over my shoulder. Her face fell into the same look that Rukia had on when she thought you were doing something silly.

"Really Ichigo, are you just going to stand there like a deer caught in the headlights, or are you going to come in?" I turned and saw Ichigo hanging back a few steps.

"You know you sound just like Rukia when you say that, Hisana-nee."

"Of course. She got it from me." She smiled cheekily, and then turned back to us. "Come on ladies, we've only got a 2 hours to make 7 girls beautiful. That's a stretch, even for me."

"Don't worry; you have Rangiku-nee-san as your assistant."

"That's true…I wonder if she would like to get into fashion when she gets older…Oh, there you are Bya-kun."

I blinked and began looking around for a 'Bya-kun' when my eyes settled on Kuchiki-sensei. Karin and Yuzu stiffened.

Karin, Yuzu and I all bowed stiffly. "Good afternoon Sensei!"

"Yo, Byakuya," Ichigo said casually.

"Good afternoon you three, and Kurosaki," He sneered on the last part.

"You're in a good a mood as always, Byakuya," Ichigo sighed. Hisana-san sighed through her nose.

"And you're just as impertinent as always Kurosaki,"

"Can't you two attempt to get along?" Hisana-san asked exasperatedly.

"We are getting along,"

"Coulda fooled me," I muttered. But when I looked at the two of them as they started to chat, or rather argue, I could tell there was no real hostility in the air.

"Come on girls," Hisana said again as she walked to the sliding door and opened it. Let's go."

It was an old fashioned Japanese home, with some of the hallways being open air. They had some Sakura trees that were in bloom, and the petals were floating freely on the late afternoon breeze. I stopped to stare out at the rest of the compound.

It was as beautiful as it was traditional, and I loved it at once.

"The sakura are always beautiful this time of year. Bya-kun loves to come out and look at them," Hisana said with a smile.

I couldn't help it. I giggled. "Somehow, the name 'Bya-kun' just doesn't fit someone as stern as Kuchiki-sensei,"

"Yeah," Karin agreed.

"Well the name's actually from Yoruichi-san. She was his baby sitter way back when, and I met him through her," Hisana-san said with a small smile.

"Wait, Yoruichi-san was his BABY SITTER?! That can't be! There's no way she's that old!" Yuzu exclaimed.

"No one knows exactly how old Yoruichi-san is," Hisana-san answered lightly.

Karin, Yuzu and I shared a look, and then shivered.

"Here we are," Hisana-san said as she came to another sliding door and opened it. We stepped inside to see the other girls sitting around chatting excitedly.

"Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan, Momo-chan! You're here," Orihime said excitedly and bounced over to where we were. "Come on come on! Let's get our dresses on!"

"Hurry up ladies," Matsumoto said as she pulled her dress out of her bag. "We don't have much time."

Five minutes later we were all in our dresses and standing around while Matsumoto and Hisana-san bustled about.

The turned around after a few moments.

"Welcome to Karakura exclusive beauty salon, take a seat, and we'll take care of the rest," Hisana-san said with a smile. "Who's up first?" Rukia was shaking her head and muttering the rest of us were looking around nervously.

I walked over and sat down. "I'll go."

* * *

**_Yeah, I know I didn't got into any real detail of the game, but I didn't want to (cuz I'm lazy and) I'm going to put in a very detailed game later. So keep reading. _**

**_Thank you so much for all the encouraging reviews!_**

**_OH! And if you haven't read Phenioxsong4232's Frozen Secret, you have to check it out. Its just so cute!_**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Excuse my very long absence. I'm back! And guess what? Despite my struggles I've managed to keep all A's first quarter! Woot! Thank you for all the well wishes in the beginning! _**

**_Okay, awhile back I got a comment from Moonlight-Milkyway commenting that Jinta had a crush on Yuzu even though he/she originally thought of Jinta and Ururu being a couple. _**

**_You want drama? You got it._**

**_And yes, Senna's first appearance is here. Honestly I haven't watched Memories of Nobody but she seemed like a cheerful, bubbly, a bit eccentric character. I have on the other hand watched Fade to Black: I call Your Name. That was practically an Ichiruki romance. However I noticed a surprising lack of Hinamori._**

**_I also watched Diamond Dust Rebellion. That blew my mind how Hinamori failed to show up in a movie entirely about Hitsugaya. I mean yeah, that guy did give a little ship-tease there when he asked if Hitsugaya stayed in Serieti for Hinamori and he snapped back "Leave her out of this!" But seriously._**

**_Okay! This incredibly long author's note is finally over!_**

* * *

I sat down in the chair fearfully. I had never liked to be poked and prodded with anything, which is why I preferred to do my make myself.

"Relax," Rangiku said reassuringly. "You know, that we know what we're doing."

I shut my eyes and tried to relax. Within seconds, I felt a brush on my face spreading something on it. Not too long after that Hisana-san pried my eye open and put on eye liner, then gently shut it with the pad of her finger.

While Hisana went for my face, Rangiku went for my hair.

"So girls, how should we do her hair?"

"I think a high side ponytail would be cute," Orihime said thoughtfully.

"Oh, and the hair should be curled slightly," Rukia added.

"You should use some blue or silver accessories too," Yuzu added.

This went on for about 20 minutes before Rangiku said, "Done! Wow Hisana-san, you really are good,"

I opened my eyes to see my reflection. I honestly couldn't believe that was me. My skin looked flawless, my eyes looked deep-set and mysterious with a darker eye shadow then I usually used. My lips were pinker and seemed a little fuller. I looked good.

"Wow," I murmured at the girl that was and wasn't me. "I do look nice." Rangiku and Hisana had already pounced on Ururu by that point, but Hisana said over her shoulder as she put pink eye shadow onto Ururu's eyes, "Of course you do. You thought we'd make you look ugly?"

I smiled.

"Of course not," I walked over to where the girls were making observations on Ururu. Rangiku was pulling her hair down from its usual pigtails and brushing it until it was glossy.

"We'll let your hair stay in its natural waves," Rangiku said, "But the bangs," She grabbed a silver pin with a pink flower on it, "Have got to go." She pinned back Ururu's bangs.

"That looks good!" Orihime chirped.

"Why do you always have your bang in your face Ururu? You're so pretty, what are you trying to hide?" Karin asked.

"I—I don't know…"She said softly as she opened her eyes. Her dark eyes widened.

"Junta's going to be blown away," Rangiku said with a smile. Then she turned a wicked smile on Rukia. "Your turn."

Rukia flinched but sat down.

This process was repeated for all of the girls over the next two hours. In the end Rukia's dark hair had been pinned up and her eyes sparkled with silver eye shadow, Orihime had straightened her hair so it fell in a silky red-orange wave over her shoulders, and brought out the red in the dress. Because Yuzu's hair was so short it ending up just having a few hair pin in it. Karin had changed the part in her hair so all of her bangs were on one side, which made it look like she'd gotten a new hair cut.

Rangiku had pulled her hair into a loose bun at the top of her head. Tendrils of hair fell around her face, framing it.

"Looks like we switched hairstyles for the night Momo-chan,"

I smiled. "Yeah, guess so."

Hisana poked her head in door. "Hey, you girls ready? The boys are in the living room."

Rukia took a deep breath. "Let's go ladies."

"Are you nervous Rukia-san?" I asked noting that she'd sighed an abnormal amount of times. She sighed again.

"Is it Ichi-nii and Renji?" Karin asked quietly. Orihime stiffened.

"Yeah," She said then hesitated. "I think that…I might—never mind"

"Rukia? You can tell us…" Ururu asked.

"I don't know. I mean, Renji and I have been friends since we were 2. I only meet Ichigo in middle school, but we've always gotten along really well and he understands me, but at the same time whenever I look at him I see…"

"Kaien-san," Orihime finished for her.

"Who's Kaien-san?" Rangiku asked.

Yuzu shook her head quickly and Rangiku dropped it. I narrowed my eyes. Why was this guy a taboo subject?

"Well," Hisana said breaking the awkward silence. "Shall we get going? We don't want to keep the boys waiting,"

"Yeah," Rukia said. "Let's get going."

We walked back down the hallways, but now it was getting dark outside. The garden looked even more beautiful with the setting sun as a back drop.

Hisana stopped outside of the sliding door leading to the living room. "Are you ready?" She asked one more time. We all nodded. "Okay then," she opened the door. "Alright boys, your dates are ready.

The boys turned toward us from whatever conversation they were having. A lot of jaws dropped for a few moments before they recollected themselves.

Some of the jaws that dropped were the girls. I forgot how good looking our group of friends are. Everyone could pass as a model if we tried. I even noticed Kuchiki-sensei, who was chaperoning the shindig, had on a casual white turtleneck and dark blue jeans with a black jacket to top off the ensemble, and still looked like he'd just walked off a runway.

Ichigo turned and raised an eyebrow when he saw Rukia. He had on a simple collared shirt and black dress pants with a blazer jacket thrown over his shoulder. "Well midget, you clean up nicely."

"I could say the same to you, strawberry," Rukia retorted with a small smirk as she walked to his side.

Orihime glanced in their direction for a split second then turned to Ishida-san. He smiled gently at her, and she blushed bright red. I raised an eyebrow. Was Orihime experiencing the same problem as Rukia…?

Matsumoto smiled at Hisagi as she walked out. The smile turned into a small smirk when Hisagi raised his eyebrows.

Now the real trouble started when Yuzu and Ururu walked in. Jinta's eyes didn't head straight for Ururu like they should have. No, they lingered a bit longer than necessary on Yuzu. His slight blush didn't help matters when Ururu caught the glance between the two. She shrank back and pulled out the clip in her hair, letting her bangs fall back into her face.

Karin frowned at her, but she looked away quickly.

I noticed a shock of white hair sitting near a window. Toshiro-kun's face was turned to look at the setting sun. The light hit his eyes and lit them up, making the blue-green color even more vibrant.

"Shiro-chan," I said softly. He turned around quickly, as if I'd startled him.

"Wha—Oh, wow…" He murmured. Then quickly, "I mean, you look pretty good, Hinamori."

I smiled, knowing full well that was the most I was going to get out of him.

"Thank y—" I was cut off as my phone rang. I fished it out of my small purse, glancing apologetically in his direction. He nodded, and I pressed the send button.

"Hello?"

"Momo-chan!" My cousin Senna's voice nearly burst my eardrums. "Guess what! Guess what!!"

I sighed softly. "What?"

"I'm here in town already!! Where are you? I came to your house and you weren't there…"

"I'm at Rukia's house."

"Rukia who?"

"Kuchiki," I answered automatically. By that point everyone in the room was looking at me.

"Kuchiki?! As in THE KUCHIKI?! The really famous and rich clan around here?!"

"Ah…yes…"

"I'll be right there! Are you in the head house?!"

"No wait! We're getting ready for an opening ceremony! You can't—"

"That's just fine! I'm all dressed up!"

"No! Senna!"

"Bye, see you soon!"

By the time I gotten off the phone, I was sweating bullets. Senna was coming. To Rukia's house. Uninvited.

Oh boy.

Now I remember why I hadn't seen her in 5 years. She was just too much to keep up with.

"Hinamori? What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"She's coming," I whispered.

"Who's coming?" Rangiku-san asked confused.

I looked her straight in the eye and whispered shrilly "Her!"

Rangiku-san snorted, "Senna? There's no—" The door bell rang and Hisana-san stood up to go and answer it.

She came back a few moments later with someone trailing behind her. "She says she's looking for Hinamori-cha—"

"MOMO-CHI!" Senna burst out and rushed me. I barely had a second to react, before she'd tackled me.

"It's so good to see you again!!" She chirped, then pulled back to look me in the eyes. She gripped my shoulder and smiled.

I'd forgotten how pretty Senna was. She was a few inches taller than me, and was as willowy as I was. Her hair was so black, it almost looked purple, and her eyes were a very vivid orange. She was wearing a red halter style dress that reached to just above her knees.

"Hi, Senna," I said weakly. Then shoot Rangiku-san an 'I told you' look. She shook her head and sighed.

"So these are your friends?" She said looking around. "Oh, I haven't even introduced myself," She let go of me and bowed to everyone. "It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Hinamori Senna, Momo's cousin on her dad's side! I'm in my 1st year of high school, or for your school 2nd, I'm 16 years old, blood type b, my birthday's November 18th, and I love the color's red and orange. I hate the color yellow,"

Everyone just stared at her in pure shock. Renji, to my surprise was the one who broke the silence.

"Ah, yeah. It's nice to meet you too. Any family of Hinamori's is a friend of ours…"He trailed off.

Senna whirled around to look at him. Her eyes widened and she marched right over to Renji and caught hold of his braid (he'd worn his hair low for the occasion.).

"You have such pretty hair!" She said softly. Renji blushed.

"T-thanks." She turned to survey the rest of the group, as they stared back at her wearily.

Rukia stepped forward, "I'm Kuchiki Rukia. What in the world are you doing, barging into someone's house uninvited?"

"Rukia, relax," Hisana said firmly. "She's already told us she's Hinamori-chan's cousin."

"And isn't that my line?" another voice said lowly from the doorway. "How troublesome, having to chaperone a crowd of kids," He muttered. "And this is…?" He said arching an eyebrow and narrowing his eyes in Senna's direction. I gulped and jumped in front of her.

"I'm sorry. This is my cousin Senna; she came into town for a visit and came here when she couldn't find me at home."

He grunted softly in response before checking his watch and asking, "Isn't it about time you kids left? You won't get anything to eat at this rate."

"Right!" I said "Time to go and eat!" And pulled Senna towards the front door. "Are you crazy?" I hissed when we were out of earshot of everyone else.

"Of course I am. Haven't you noticed?"

"Jokes aside, you could have waited until I got home! The opening ceremony's big! And I need to get some things done tonight, uninterrupted!"

"So you don't want me around," Senna asked quietly, finally getting serious. I felt guilty.

"No, it's just that tonight is a bad night for this."

"Alright, I'll get going. You're serious. I can see that," she said softly back. And I smiled. I forgot how understanding she could be when she wasn't on a war-path.

"Thanks Sen-chan."

"Of course Mo-chi," She said using my old nickname. She hugged me, before turning around and calling, "I'll take my leave of you for now, but we should hang out tomorrow!" She glanced at me. I nodded. "Till later!" Then she hopped out the door and disappeared.

"Well, she's…" Ichigo started.

"Crazy?" I asked.

"Wacky?" Jinta said as well.

"Eccentric?" Hisana supplied.

"Familiar, actually," Ichigo said. He frowned. "I feel like I've met her before…"

"I don't remember her," Karin said. Yuzu nodded.

"And we've met all of Ichi-nii's friends."

"Yeah, must be my imagination," He said, though he looked doubtful.

I shrugged. "Senna gets that a lot. People just get déjà vu feelings around her. Anyway, let's go to Urahara's!"

"Yeah," Rukia said. "We can't afford to waste anymore time around here."

So we piled into our respective cars, Rukia taking my spot in Ichigo's car and me going to Hisagi's to ride with him Rangiku-san and Toshiro-kun.

We made it Urahara's were we greeted by a feast. Jinta whistled lowly. "Tessai-san really went all out didn't he?"

"Of course. Did you expect anything less?" Urahara-san said while fanning himself with a green fan and white fan.

"Oh, you guys are already here?" I turned and saw Kira-kun walking in…with Maria-chan on his arm.

My eyes widened to a size that would resemble saucers. Rangiku-san's breathe caught, the twins stiffened simultaneously, Rukia-chan narrowed her eyes, Orihime's grip on her clutch tightened ever so slightly and Ururu bit her lip. The boys all blinked, only a bit shocked.

"Maria-chan," I asked finding my breath at last, "What are you…?"

"Oh, are the two of you going together tonight? I'm sorry, I didn't know," She said assuming a face that would have put bambi to shame.

"No, it's not that—" I said.

"Then it's alright then!" She said smiling so broadly her eyes squinted shut.

"Yeah, sure…"

The other's turned back to the food obviously not wanting to add fuel to the flames, but when I glanced back at Maria-chan, she was still smiling.

But it wasn't a smile that was laced with remorse, the way it should have been, but one laced with malice.

I looked away quickly.

When we finished eating we hopped back into our cars and drove to school. When we entered the gym the place was already filled up with people. The DJ already had some music playing so the couples went to dance while I mingled for a little while.

I caught up with Isane-san, a senior girl who planned on going into the medical field and was often seen in the company of Unohana-sensei, the school nurse. She was a nice person and very easy to talk to.

"It's been a while Hinamori-san, how's it going?"

"Pretty well, actually. I've managed to not get hurt while cheerleading anymore,"

"That's good. Oh, Hisagi-kun," She said turning as Hisagi walked over.

"Oh, hey Isane," The two fell into conversation as Rangiku-san walked over to me. She glanced at the two of them before gently pulling me away.

"Look like a couple don't they?" She said. I nodded half-heartedly. It seemed that everyone was starting to pair off. "So, what are you going to do?"

"About what," I turned now paying full attention to her.

"Kira."

"Actually, I was planning on breaking things off officially with him tonight," I said softly.

Rangiku-san slowly closed her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," I whispered. "All I'm doing is hurting him right? He's too nice a guy for me to do that to him. Not to mention, he has Maria-chan now."

Her eyes narrowed at that name. "That snake. I had a bad feeling about her from the beginning."

"What are you talking about? Maria-chan's a nice person."

"She's got more faces then Cerberus. She's the one who's been spreading the rumors."

There's just no way that could be true. Maria had always been a very nice a quiet person. But both Rangiku-san and Yoruichi-san were saying the same things.

"I don't know—"

"Hey," Ichigo said as he and Rukia walked over. Rukia was holding a cup of punch and sipping it delicately.

"Oh, hey," I said.

"What's going on with Hisagi and that silver-haired chick?"

"Oh Isane-san? She's a really nice person."

"Yeah. She helped me wrap my shin splints when I got them during a track meet," Rukia said.

We glanced in their direction just in time to see Isane-san laugh at something Hisagi had said as he flashed a stunning grin.

"They look good together," Rukia murmured.

Ichigo drifted off to chat with some of the other soccer players. We continued surveying what was going on when Rukia suddenly murmured "Uh-oh."

"What's up?" Rangiku asked.

"Jinta and…Yuzu?"

"What?!" I squeaked. But sure enough Jinta and Yuzu were dancing to a slow song not too far from where we were standing. I opened my mouth to say something when I spotted Ururu watching the two of them as well. Her bangs had fallen into her eyes and she looked sad as could be.

"Jinta…" I murmured. "You idiot."

The song finished playing and the two of them separated. Yuzu was blushing faintly.

Then the principal, Chairman Yamamoto voice echoed throughout the gym.

"Before we continue we tonight's festivities, we'd like to introduce the cheerleaders and soccer players, the reason for the occasion. If you could all gather on the stage,"

Rangiku-san and I waved to Rukia and began our walk up to the stage. We smiled and waved at people on the way up there. I caught Karin's eye as she was walking up as well and she drifted to our side.

When all the cheerleaders and soccer players were assembled up there Hisagi, Rangiku-san and Karin went up and gave their captains speech, then the cheerleaders, girls' team and boys' team were introduced in turn. When he called Hinamori Momo is smiled and waved to the crowd as they clapped and cheered.

When the introduction was over I walked off the stage by myself. As I glanced around I saw Kira and Maria talking quietly. I took a deep breath, steeled myself and walked over to the two of them. They both stopped talking as I got closer.

"Kira-kun, I need to talk to you," Maria raised a bored eyebrow. "Alone," I finished, letting some steel enter my voice.

"Fine," He said and started walking towards the gym doors. I followed him out the door into the empty hallway.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" His voice was extremely cold and quiet. I'd never heard him so angry before.

I shut my eyes and bowed my head slightly. "Kira-kun…I'm sorry that I'm doing it this way but I think we should go our separate ways—" Before I could finish what I had to say, Kira grabbed my wrists and pinned me against the wall.

"Kira what—" He lips smashed against mine. I fought his grip, yanking at my wrists and squirming. When my knee collided with his, he let go and stepped back.

I touched my mouth. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "There's nothing there, is there?"

I shook my head sadly. He sighed and stepped closer. Then he reached over, touched my face gently and pulled away before turning and walking back into the gym.

I stood there in absolute shock for awhile just thinking. He still liked me didn't he? He wanted me to feel something when he kissed me. Tears filled up in my eyes. I was such a terrible person.

I walked back into the gym quietly. My friends were standing nearby.

"Hinamori?" Rukia said. "What's up? I just saw Kira come tearing by. He looked pretty upset…" She trailed off as Ichigo placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

I smiled weakly at Ichigo as everyone gathered around me.

"What happened Momo?" Rangiku-san. I shook my head.

"I'm just not feeling well," I murmured softly. "I think I'm just going to head on home," I turned and began walking towards the doors. Just before I walked out I turned and waved and forced a smile then walked out into the cool crisp early spring night air.

It was only about 9 o'clock on a Friday night so the town was pretty lively. I watched a group of kids a few years younger than me talking excitedly before walking into Urahara's shop.

I thought about going in and having a talk with Yoruichi-san when I heard a soft high-pitched voice say "Hinamori Momo,"

I started looking around and walking faster towards home. As I was walking I heard the same voice say again. "Hinamori Momo!"

I suppressed a scream and started to run despite the fact that I was in heels.

"Hinamori Momo!"

My apartment came into view and I sprinted into it, flew up the stairs, ran to my door, unlocked the door with a shaky hand and locked it behind me. I then ran around the apartment closing curtains and making sure windows and French sliding door was locked. I sat on the couch in silence for what felt like hours but must have been fifteen minutes, I finally calmed down.

_Shick, click clack_. The sound of a key being inserted to the door's lock. I panicked, suppressing a shriek; I raced into the kitchen and grabbed the first sharp thing I saw, which happened to be a knife.

If I was going down, I was going down fighting. I stood facing the door, knife in hand.

When it opened I lunged at the door with a quiet grunt. The door flew open to reveal a shocked Hisagi and Rangiku-san. The knife posed at Hisagi's neck.

"Whoa, hey peace! It's just us!" Hisagi said holding up the spare key I'd given him. "Momo what in the world—" I dropped the knife and threw my arms around him and started to sob.

* * *

**_Yeah, she's a little freaked out. We'll find out who the voice is next time (^^)_**

**_I sorta felt sorry for Kira being the loser in this love triangle. But he'll be alright...I hope. However, if you started to get a bad vibe from my OC Maria to begin with, you were right! She's the evil b**** in this chapter. And no, she won't get any better._**

**_Thanks so much for all of your support, and I'm sorry you've had to wait so long. Hopefully it won't take so long next time. But hey! As a treat, I made it over 1000 words longer than usual ^^_**

**_Go ahead an press the pretty green and white button that say "Review"!_**


	11. Chapter 11

**_I am so sorry it took me a month to crank out this chapter! But guess what?! I kicked science fair projects' butt! A+ (A winner is me!)_**

**_Anyway, enjoy the chpater and I want you t guess the voice!_**

* * *

I sat quietly in my apartment staring out the window with my knees held up to my chest. Music was playing out of the speakers quietly. Yuki Kajiura's I talk to Rain. Books were strewn around me, papers on the floor and the coffee table.

I hadn't slept much the night before. Hisagi and Matsumoto had spent the night unintentionally so as to comfort me. I'm not quite sure what made me snap so badly. Maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the depression, maybe the fear.

Last night was the first time in months that I had felt so scared. That voice had been very familiar, but at the same time foreign. As if I had heard that voice in a dream, but I couldn't quite remember whose voice it was.

I listened to the beautiful violins and cellos as they created a beautiful and powerful song. I shut my eyes and let myself relax and think. Last night I had been followed from Urahara's to about a block from home. The voice was soft, high, and definitely feminine. Probably someone who wouldn't hurt me but after exploring the not so great parts of Seireitei and visiting Huceo Mundo, I couldn't be so sure.

My ringtone snapped me out of my reverie and I reached for my phone. It read Rukia-chan.

"Hello," I said in a tired voice.

"Hey Hinamori. It's just me, I was wondering if today you'd like to go out with Ichigo and me?"

I raised an eyebrow. "As in I'm the third wheel?"

"No! Well…" She hesitated just slightly. "No, just as friends. But if you want to bring someone along you can."

I thought for a second. Who could I invite who wouldn't ask too many questions about the night before? "Okay. I'll bring Hitsugaya-kun."

"Oh?" I could hear the amusement in her voice. "Okay. Are you sure we won't be acting as third wheels?"

"Rukia," I said her name very softly. "Don't."

Her voice went serious. "Hina—Momo? What happened?"

"Please. Don't."

She was quiet. "We're meeting at the park at about two o'clock. But only if you feel up to it. Bye."

She hung up. I glanced at the clock on my phone. It said 12:37. A little over an hour to get ready. I stood up, turned off the stereo, and walked to the door. I stepped out and walked down the open air hallway to Hitsugaya-kun's apartment.

I rang the doorbell and waited. There was a quiet scuffling sound before the door opened revealing Toshiro. He blinked when he saw me and then turned a bit red.

"Ah…Hinamori…um, you…"

"What?" I asked a little dazed. He gestured to my outfit. To be more specific, my pj's, which consisted of a pair of near nonexistent shorts and a light, almost see-through, tank top.

"Ahem, um..." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Ichigo and Rukia are going out and they invited me to come along. I was wondering if you would come with me so I wouldn't be a third wheel…"

His eyes kept flicking from me to the door frame as if he was trying not to stare. "Yeah, sure. What time are we supposed to meet them?"

"About two."

"Right."

"Okay."

"Okay," He said flushing a bit darker before turning to go back inside. "I'll be at your place about 1:30."

I stepped back. "That's fine."

He stopped to give me a long calculating look. I shifted nervously. Why was he staring at me like that?

"What did Kira do?"

My head snapped up. "How'd—nothing," I said recovering, "happened. Nothing at all."

His teal eyes narrowed. He could tell I was lying. "Hina—"

"I'll see you in a little while," I said and escaped to my apartment. I sighed a little and then headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

As I stripped off my clothes I glanced in the mirror, and my eyes flicked to my stomach.

There the skin was red and scarred. I touched it gingerly and shuddered as I did. It always gave me bad memories. Memories of my days in Seireitei, memories of Aizen, and memories of the day I almost died.

I turned away, turned the shower on and jumped in even though it was still cold.

At 1:30 I was sitting on the couch staring out the sliding door to the balcony. Yuki Kajiura's Lamentation was playing now. I was wearing a green low cut top with a brown tank top underneath and brown corduroy pants with green flats.

The doorbell rang and I stood up to answer it. Toshiro was standing there in dark blue jeans and a white polo. A faint spicy scent was wafting off of him.

"Hey," he said calmly.

"Hey to you too," I said stepping aside to let him in. He walked around me and headed to the couch and plopped down.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically. "Go ahead and have a seat." He turned to me, his face perfectly straight but his eyes smiling.

"Sarcasm. You're feeling better."

"I guess," I shrugged.

He turned back around to face the window. I came around the other side to sit down beside him. There was an awkward silence before he picked up one of the books. One of my many poetry books.

"Hmm. You didn't strike me as the poetry person," he murmured as he flipped through the book.

"I've always liked to read poetry. Robert Frost's _The Road not Taken_ is my favorite. 'Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. I took the one less traveled by—'"

"And that has made all the difference," He finished for me.

"My life's story," I said quietly. "I'm not the cheerful cheerleader you must think I am."

"I never said you were," Toshiro answered, just as quietly. I looked at him and he turned to meet my gaze.

"Before I moved here, before I met Rangiku-san, I was really quiet. A serious nerd I suppose. Straight A student, all except math. I've never been good at math. I didn't start cheering until I was in 7th grade. I ran cross country and distance track."

I took a deep breath and continued. "I met Rangiku-san in 7th grade. That school had a buddy program going, where the older girls were supposed to help out the newbies. Rangiku-san was my partner and we hit it off immediately. She introduced me to so many people, and got me into cheerleading with her—" My eyes flicked to the clock for a split second. It read 1:55. "Oh shoot! We're going to be late!"

Toshiro looked blinked at me, shocked. He glanced at the clock and stood up with me.

We managed to make it to the park in about fifteen minutes. We found Ichigo and Rukia sitting at the lake together just talking. Ichigo's shoulders were shaking in what looked like laughter and Rukia was waving her hands around looking agitated.

"Hey," I called as we approached giving them plenty of warning. Rukia turned around quickly and I saw she was blushing. Ichigo looked at me his scowl still in place but his eyes dancing with pent-up laughter.

"Hey," He answered lightly.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked as Rukia regained her composure.

"We're going to that new café on Main," Rukia answered blowing at her one stubborn strand of hair that hung in her face.

"Sounds good," I said. I looked at Toshiro and he shrugged. Ichigo stood up and held his hand out casually for Rukia to take. She swatted it away and stood up by herself. Shooting him a nasty look. He raised an eyebrow, his eyes still laughing.

"Let's get going," She said irritably. I giggled quietly and glanced at Toshiro who was shaking his head.

The Café we went to was called Sakura Blizzard. It was beautifully decorated, mixing a modern and almost medieval style Japan together. We sat down in one of the booths and looked around. After a few moments, a beautiful woman walked out carrying menus.

She was tall, with long silver hair and silvery-blue eyes. She wore a light, almost gossamer, silver bell-sleeved top and a long white skirt with a blue sash tied around it. Her name tag said Shirayuki.

"Shirayuki-sama?" Rukia said surprised. I glanced at her then turned back to the woman for her reaction. She gave a small smile. "Hello Rukia, and friends," She glanced around the table. She gave Ichigo a little nod.

"Shirayuki-san, I didn't know you got a job here. Is Zangetsu-jii around?" Ichigo asked with a small smile of his own.

"Yes, he's in the back. I'm sure he would be glad to see you. And we own this café, not just work here."

The conversation continued, Rukia joining in quickly. They talked and laughed like old friends, and I suspected they were, which just made me feel even more awkward. I flicked my eyes towards Toshiro but he just looked at his menu.

"I'll get everyone out here in a moment," Shirayuki-san said in her soft sophisticated voice. "I'm sure they'll be glad to see you. Now, would you like to order?"

"I'll have a banana split," Rukia said.

"The citrus burst Italian ice," Ichigo said. When had they had time to read the menu?!

Shirayuki-san looked at me; I frantically looked for something to order. "Um, I guess I'll have the…" I kept looking, there were so many things to choose from! "…Hot fudge sundae," I said at last, playing it safe.

Shirayuki smiled a little and nodded then looked over at Toshiro. "The Blue Blizzard Ice," he said quietly.

"Be back in a few moments," She said and floated to the back.

As soon as she had left, I turned towards Rukia. "You know them?"

"Yeah. She and her husband Zangetsu-san helped me find my brother and sister when I first moved here."

"Wow," I murmured.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the whole motley crew moved here as well, but I haven't been able to keep in touch. It's nice to see her again, right Ichigo?"

"Yeah, Shirayuki-san's like family," Ichigo said.

At that moment Shirayuki-san came out of the back with the orders. A few other people were trailing behind her.

The first was a girl my age or a few years older. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a pretty top with a pink and white skirt. She flipped her beautiful hair over her shoulder.

The second was a tall man with long blue hair and dark blue eyes. He had a piercing gaze that seemed to sweep over and take in everything around him.

Next was a man slightly shorter than the first one with long dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail at the back of his head. He was startlingly feminine, with beautiful green eyes and high cheekbones, if it weren't for a slightly masculine jaw, I would have believed he was a woman.

Finally a tall man in a brown dress shirt and black slacks walked out. He had dark sunglasses on and he lifted them of his face as he walked over. He head dark, wild, but somehow still neat hair.

Shirayuki-san smiled pleasantly. "Toubime, Houyrin-kun, Zen-kun, this is Ichigo, Rukia, and…" She trailed of when she got to Toshiro and me.

"Hinamori Momo, its nice meeting you.'

"Hitsugaya Toshiro, a pleasure,"

"Hitsugaya-kun and Hinamori-cha—" she went to finish just as the door flew open.

A girl stepped inside. She was tall and busty, rivaling Rangiku-san even, with long, layered green hair. She was wearing a midriff bearing brown top and a short brown skirt. A white hat with a broken ram skull design perched on her head. She looked around for a moment.

Shirayuki-san's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. I could tell she didn't appreciate being interrupted.

"Can I help you?" She asked in her aristocratic voice.

"Yes," The girl replied in a soft, high pitched voice. "I'm looking for someone." Her voice was the same as the one I had heard the night before! My breath caught, and Toshiro's gaze snapped towards me.

She continued. "A Hinamori Momo-san," She looked in our direction, her eyes widening. "There you are." Everyone looked at me.

"I—I don't know you," I whispered.

Ichigo looked at her hard, squinting his amber eyes until they were little slits. Then they shot open in surprise. "Nel? Neliel?" He muttered. Rukia shot him a surprised look.

"Yes, it's nice seeing you again Ichigo," She gave him a small smile.

"No way," He looked at her again. "The last time I saw you, it was summer camp. That place outside of Huceo Mundo. I was twelve and you were what, six? You still called me 'Itsygo.'"

Nel-san blinked. "Ichigo, I was twelve. Same age as you. I was just…small for my age."

Ichigo coughed. "Well, uh, you've really…grown up…" His face started to turn red.

Nel smiled lightly. "Thank you. Now the real reason I'm here," She turned towards me. "Can I talk to you?"

"Y-yes,"

"Privately," She said motioning towards a table on the other end of the café. She turned and began walking and I stood up to follow her.

The group parted like the red sea to allow me pass. I could feel their eyes on my back and it made me self-conscious.

She sat down and I sat down in front of her, backing the group.

She took a deep breath. "Look, I know this is going to be the last thing you'll want to hear but…Aizen's looking for you, and he's got a pretty good idea where you are."

I felt the color drain out of my face. "How do you know about that?"

"Didn't you get a good look at my back?" She stood up and turned around. On the small of her back there was a rather large '3' in curly script. The same type of number as the…

"Espada," I whispered softly.

"Former," She began again. "Number 3. I was run out by another Espada. After taking a good look at what Aizen was doing, I decided that it was best to stay out. However, there were a few people in the gang who were loyal to me. They told me what was going on. I thought it might be a good idea to track you down and warn you."

I took a deep breath. "There are others," I said.

"I know," She answered. "Hisagi-san and Matsumoto-san. I'll need to talk to each of them too. But for now, why don't we get back to your table? The white-haired one is getting suspicious."

Toshiro. "Yes," I said quietly. "Let's go."

She stood up and took a good look at Toshiro. "Two things. That boy really must care about you, and I think you might have competition."

I whipped around to see the girl Toubime sitting beside Toshiro flipping her hair and eating my sundae and flirting with him.

I narrowed my eyes and strode over to the table. "Excuse me, but that's my seat, and my food."

The girl looked up with superior eyes. "And?"

"Please move."

"Or—"

"Toubime!" Shirayuki snapped. "Get up and get her another sundae. Now."

She stood up and left. Shirayuki-san shook her head. "I'm very sorry about that. She's become so unruly lately."

"It's fine," I said. I sat back down quietly and waited on my dessert. The others sat quietly, eating.

"So…" Ichigo started. "What was that all about?"

"It was just someone catching me up on what's going on in my old town," I answered as lightly as possible.

"So what's going on in your old town?"

I pressed my lips together trying my best to come up with a convincing lie. "I—"

"Ichigo," Rukia said around a bite of ice cream "Let it be."

"Sorry. Just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Hitsugaya murmured looking out the window.

"I'm not dead yet," Ichigo answered as he swiped a bit of ice cream off of Rukia's plate.

"If you keep going, you will be," Rukia said hitting Ichigo with her own spoon and then taking a huge glob of Italian ice from Ichigo.

"Please, nothing's going to kill me. I'm only 17." Ichigo said off handedly.

"Don't be so sure of that," Rukia said softly suddenly serious. Ichigo cocked his head to the side in confusion.

The door to the café opened.

We all turned to see who had just came in and were more than a little shocked.

Renji and Senna floated in looking around.

"Wow, this place is nice," Renji muttered.

"Pretty!" Senna chimed.

"Yo, Renji! Over here!" Ichigo called. Rukia shot him an irritated look.

"Did you call him?"

"No. Guess he just came with Senna."

The two of them reached our table. "Guess it's a party now?" I said cheerfully. "Right, Shiro-chan?"

Hitsugaya grunted, irritated. I smiled. Still got him every time. "Whatever."

Renji sat down beside Rukia, squeezing her in between the Ichigo and himself. Senna pouted but sat down beside me.

I relaxed as the conversation started. And then I remembered Nel-san. I looked around to find her and noticed that she had disappeared.

My shoulders stayed tense for the rest of the day.

* * *

**How many of you actually guessed NeL? I wanna know!**

**Now press thethe pretty green and white button and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Ummm...I have no excuses here, but I have one request...Please don't kill me. I'll be happy if anyone is even reading this anymore.**_

**_Well, It's finally summer break for me and I'm enjoying my days of pure laziness here at home while they last. By mid-July I'll be busy again (This time with flag corps) so up in the air yet again. I will be updating as frequently as possible for the next few weeks though. I really do love this story and where its going. But I'm a little miffed at the manga. Really Kubo? Do you have something against Hinamori and Hitsugaya? Huh? Was it NESSECARY to have him stab her in the chest? Granted that could be a very nice setup for some romantic going-ons in the future, but I digress._**

**_Okie-dokie rant over. Enjoy the chapter :)_**

* * *

Toshiro could see that something was bothering me. I tried to hide it while we were out with Rukia, Ichigo-kun, Renji and Senna, but it was difficult, because I jumped every time someone said my name or bumped into me.

I even flinched when Toshiro tried to touch my arm. He withdrew with a look of slight hurt, and I felt horrible afterwards.

As I climbed the stairs to my apartment, Toshiro trailing a few steps behind me, I sighed for what must have been the millionth time that day.

"What's got you so on edge? What did that girl say to you?" Toshiro's voice was low.

I stopped climbing up the steps. He stopped when he was just one step below me.

There was no sound for a few heartbeats before I turned around with a slight smile. "Nothing's got me on edge, Shiro-chan. And Nel-san was just catching me up on some Seretiei and Hueco Mundo news."

"I believe that. But what exactly did that news entail?" His eyes were focused directly on me. There was no way that I would have been able to lie to him right then. I stopped smiling.

"Aizen," was all I said.

I watched Toshiro's eyes widen. His arm went stiff on the banister. I turned and continued to climb the steps. I unlocked the door and as my hand touched the knob, I turned to look at him and said very quietly, "Please, stay out of this. Please."

He didn't reply.

* * *

I called Rangiku-san and Hisagi that evening for a three way chat. We decided that we'd try and lay low for a little while. Hisagi had pointed out that there wasn't much use running, they didn't know exactly where we were, otherwise they would have sent people after us by now. Rangiku-san told me not to let anyone else know about what was going on and I promised not to even though it made me squirm a bit since I'd partially spilled to Toshiro and I knew he wasn't about to let it go.

When Monday came around I was feeling a little better and decided that I would put on a smile and be cheerful for my friends' sakes.

I actually got up in time that day and got ready within 30 minutes had a decent breakfast, toast, a banana and a glass of milk, at my table before hopping out the door. Toshiro was waiting by the steps.

"G'morning! Did you have to wait long?"

"Not really. I just got out here about five minutes ago," He said quietly.

"Whew," I said letting out a breath of relief. "You ready to go?" I said turning towards the steps.

"Yeah."

The walk to school was quiet up until we met up with the Kurosakis. From there Karin, Yuzu and I started chatting. They wanted to know why I'd left the dance all of sudden. Ichigo looked over his shoulder.

"Actually," he said "I was wondering that myself, but I was little worried about asking since…"

I waved his shyness off. "It's alright. Kira-kun and I…well we officially broke things off. I was just a little sad and didn't feel much like partying afterward."

"Well you missed one heck of a show," Karin sighed. Yuzu's face turned red. I blinked in surprise.

"Wait, what?" I said confused. I looked to Ichigo who shook his head.

"I'm not going to get into that one," He said and pulled Toshiro ahead, who turned with a raised eyebrow. I nodded to him to tell him I'd talk to him later.

"So…" I said quietly, looking from an exasperated Karin to a shy and blushing Yuzu, "Who's going to explain?"

"Jinta decided to play Casanova at the dance. He was Ururu's date right? Well he ended up spending absolutely no time with her. In fact he spent most of his time with Yuzu," Karin started.

My eyes widened. Oh no… Karin continued. "Then later on, the two of them disappeared together—"

"We didn't do anything!" Yuzu finally squeaked out. "I wouldn't do that to Ururu-chan!"

"But you have to admit you spent the entire dance with Jinta, Yuzu. You know how much Ururu likes him," Karin answered.

"I thought it would just be that one dance," I murmured glancing at Yuzu who now looked very guilty.

"It was about ten dances," Karin said with a sigh. "Ururu's not going to be in a pleasant mood.  
"What exactly happened when you to disappeared?" I asked looking at Yuzu carefully.

"It was getting kinda hot in there so we went up to the roof. We just talked for a long time. That's it, I promise," Yuzu insisted.

We'd entered the front gate of the school. "We'll have to continue this conversation later. There's the gang," Karin said.

I looked towards our crowd of friends. There seemed to be a couple of more people…then it hit me. Isane was standing beside Hisagi and they were chatting as they leaned up against a tree. And then in a huddle were Ichigo, Rukia, Toshiro, and Renji and…

"Senna?" I said as we approached. She was in our school uniform. She turned around.

"Mo-chi!" And flung her arms around me. I caught her and gave her a hug before leaning back.

"Sen-chan what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Surprise! I'm living on my own now, so this is the school I'm going to be going to!"

"Wait…What? When was this decided?"

"A few weeks ago when I decided that I was tired of my parents constant fighting. They agreed and I moved out. The truck will be here in a few days with the rest of my stuff."

I stared at her, dumbstruck. "I guess…well…um welcome. This Karakura Town High,"

Senna giggled. "Yeah, I know. This school is kinda weird though. It uses the western style high school system, with four grades instead of three. So I'm in second year here instead of first!"

"Ye—yeah." I looked around for help. "I'm in a different wing of the school so I won't be able to show you around…"

"Don't sweat it Hinamori," Renji said. "I agreed to show her around already.

I nodded and smiled. "Thanks Renji-kun."

"Don't worry about her Momo!" chirped Rangiku as she suddenly glomped me from behind. "We'll take good care of her! Turns out she's pretty smart! She'll be taking some of my classes…even though she's a year younger,"

Toshiro sighed. "Doesn't that just mean you're just slacking off again?" he asked.

"Of course not Captain! But why take harder classes and get an F when you can take easier classes and get a B?"

"Typical Matsumoto."

"Be nice," I said with a smile. He snorted in response. Ichigo smiled at Senna.

"Our numbers keep increasing. We'll have to introduce you to Yoruichi-san and Urahara-san, soon. They like knowing everyone in town."

"They probably already know," Rukia said.

"What with their ring of teenage spies hanging around everywhere," Renji muttered.

I frowned. "Don't you think it's weird…they always seem to know everything."

"Thinking back on it…yeah it is kinda strange," Rukia murmured.

_Briiiiiiiiiinnnnnnggg!_

"There's the bell," Toshiro said. We split into our usual groups, promising to continue our conversation at lunch.

"What was that about this morning?" Toshiro asked absently.

"Girl talk," I said with a smile.

"Isn't that the answer to everything going on around here?" Toshiro groaned. I smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Just consider yourself lucky Shiro-chan."

He didn't give me the usual indignant snort and when I turned towards him he was staring at me intently.

"Is…is there something you want to say?" I asked quietly.

He opened his mouth to reply but then shut it again when we'd reached our homeroom's door. He shook his head. "No, it's nothing."

I slid the door open and walked in. Karin had apparently made it there before us because she was sitting there absently staring out the window when I walked up and put my things down.

She glanced at me and said, "Do you ever feel like you know when something's about to go horribly wrong?"

I flicked my eyes towards Toshiro and muttered, "More than you'll ever know Karin-chan."

* * *

Lunch rolled around rather quickly, and when I walked towards our table I got that feeling that Karin had mentioned earlier.

I noticed immediately that Senna had taken in between Renji and Orihime, and she looked comfortable (much to my relief). The seating was the same as usual right up until the last seat, my seat. In it was Maria smiling coolly and resting her head on Kira-kun's shoulder. Rangiku-san's eyes were narrowed to silvery slits.

Maria raised her head off of Kira-kun's shoulder when I approached. "Oh, Momo-chan," She said in her soft high pitched voice. She flicked her head around rapidly as if looking for another seat, knowing full well that they were filled.

"Am I in your seat? Should I move?" She scrunched up her eyebrows and gave a small cold smile. If I said that I wanted my seat back, I would come off as witch. If I said it was fine, she would win. She had me cornered.

I relented. "No, it's okay," I glanced outside and spotted the huge Sakura tree. "Some fresh air would do me some good anyway. I'll eat outside," and I turned and walked out the door. I let out a little sigh. This wasn't going to get any better was it?

"You shouldn't let people push you around like that," Rukia's voice chimed up behind me.

I jumped and turned around. "Rukia-chan…you scared me."

"That girl…she was with Kira during the dance."

"Yes, she's a classmate and member of the cheerleading squad. Her name's Maria,"

"She has the fakest, coldest smile I've ever seen," Rukia murmured quietly.

"She doesn't like me very much," I answered.

"That, I can see. What are you going to do?"

"What's there to do? Kira-kun's not a possession of mine; he's free to date whoever he pleases."

"Mmmm." Rukia murmured.

I sighed as I sank to the ground beside the tree. Rukia sat down beside me.

"Hey," I said suddenly. "What did you and Ichigo do after we left?" Rukia blinked her large purple eyes at me.

"We went to the park for a little while and just talked…" She answered slowly giving me a sidelong glance. "Why do you ask?"

I gave an exasperated sigh. "Oh never mind," I muttered. "You two are hopeless."

"Why is everyone so inquisitive? Orihime and Matsumoto asked me the same questions earlier."

"Do you like Ichigo?" I asked very bluntly. Rukia seemed very startled by my sudden question. She paused for a brief moment before answering quietly,

"Of course I like him. He's one of my best friends. I would trust him with my life," as she looked up at the branches above us.

"That's not what I—"

"Momo!"

I turned around at the sound of a newcomer. Standing there was Senna and Renji. Sighed heavily. Someone always seemed to show up.

"Momo? Who was that curly haired girl? Is she a friend of yours?" Senna asked inquisitively. Renji snorted.

"You couldn't figure form the hostility that that would be a no?" He asked quirking an eyebrow.

"What hostility? She seemed to be sincere enough to me," Senna answered."

"Oh," Renji said with a quiet sigh, "You'll figure out that people at as kind as they appear here in a hurry."

Senna frowned a little. "So she doesn't like you…why?"

"Because I dated the guy she's currently with…and he…I don't—" I cut myself off. I wanted to say that he still had feelings for me, but that would be assuming too much, wouldn't it?

Senna plopped down beside me and looked at me carefully. Then whispered in my ear, "Do you still like him?"

I shook my head. "Not really," I answered quietly.

"It's that other boy? Do you like him?" She whispered. I blinked and looked up at her. How'd—

"The one with the pretty green-blue eyes?"

I looked up at the branches of the tree and said aloud, "I don't know." She nodded once and I remembered why Senna and I got along so well. She was a total goof, but she was a good friend. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rukia smile slightly.

Renji sighed aloud, "What is with you girls and your girl talks all of a sudden?"

"It's not a girl talk exactly Renji-kun," I said trying to word it right, "Just something Senna wanted to ask me."

"Then why did she have to whisper it?" Oh crap, he had me there.

"It's about someone special to her is all," Senna said with a smile. I shot her a look of death.

"Sen-chi!"

"Who," Renji asked blinking, "Hitsugaya?" I could feel a rush of warmth enter my cheeks.

"I—no—I just—is it that obvious?" I finished meekly. Renji burst out laughing.

"Is what that obvious?" Toshiro's husky voice came from behind me. I could feel the blood rushing to my head.

"Nothing!" I squeaked without turning around.

"Ah, there you guys are!" I could hear Rangiku-san approaching. "Ichigo, Karin! This way!"

Toshiro walked around to crouch on the other side of me, and I turned away from him to hide my red face, which consequently made it redden even more.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Fine," I answered trying to get my wits back. "Just fine." Karin was kind enough to give me an excuse not to look at him by speaking.

"Well, that was an interesting lunch," Karin muttered. "Since when did Kira and Maria start going out?" Ichigo and Renji grunted their agreement.

"What are we going to do about her exactly?" Renji asked.

"What can we do?" Rangiku-san started. "She hasn't done anything that could get her in real trouble," The conversation continued as they thought of all the problems they had found with Maria.

"Hey guys," I said looking up at all of them. They quieted. "Can we just leave them alone? If they're happy then it's fine right?"

Numerous looks were exchanged. "Alright Hinamori, if that's what you want," Renji said a bit uneasily.

I smiled a little. "Thanks," I checked my watch and glanced up at Karin. "Do you want to go ahead and head to our next class?"

Karin nodded slowly. "Fine by me.

I stood up and brushed off my skirt absently. My gaze flicked towards Toshiro, "Do you want to come with us?"

He shrugged and fell into step beside Karin and I as we started to walk away from the still murmuring group.

"Why are you running away?" Toshiro asked quietly. Karin kept looking straight ahead but I saw her furrow her eyebrows.

I sighed. "I'm not running away," I answered softly. "I neither have the time, nor the patience to worry about who my ex-boyfriend is dating."

He looked away and the two of us walked back to our class in complete silence.

* * *

_**Yes, I know not much happened but this also sets up for a wham episode (well chapter in this case) soon. This is kinda to get everyone back up to speed. **_

**_I'm out_**

**_~*Stardust897*~_**


End file.
